Opinion: Global wetlands targets are essential to a livable future

What’s in a name? In the case of wetlands, the answer is multitudes. The category “wetlands” encompasses lakes, rivers, fens, peatlands, deltas, mangroves, coral reefs, seagrass meadows, and more. Wetlands occur at all latitudes and altitudes. They are dynamic superheroes, simultaneously sequestering carbon; storing, filtering and delivering water; protecting coasts; supporting millions of livelihoods; and providing habitats for a staggering 40% of global biodiversity.

Climate-related events such as floods, droughts, and devastating fires are increasing because we are letting wetlands degrade. Recent reports underline the urgency and importance of getting wetlands back in good condition.

Today, critical negotiations commence in Nairobi, Kenya, as part of the Convention on Biological Diversity’s 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties, or COP 15, during which the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework will be refined and updated — and hopefully strengthened. Yet wetlands are absent — or at best only glancingly represented under other targets — within the current framework.

It’s a stark reflection of the blind spot that has developed within global climate and biodiversity policy and among the water sector. We have made inroads in setting targets for the protection of land and sea, but where does that leave freshwater and coastal wetlands — the crucial interface between land and water, whose condition affects biodiversity and the well-being of people more than any other ecosystem? Thus far there has been little consideration of the need for these wetland ecosystems to be managed under a dedicated set of targets.

That needs to change. We cannot meet the ambitious and necessary targets for climate mitigation and adaptation, or the halting and reversal of biodiversity loss, without putting the protection and restoration of wetlands at the heart of global targets.

Nature-based solutions have shot to the top of the global agenda in recent years. Wetlands should be front and center in this discussion, given the connecting role across all landscapes and the myriad benefits they provide. We know from recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessments that unless we take rapid and transformative action on carbon reduction, we are unlikely to limit global warming to 1.5 or even 2 degrees Celsius.

Nevertheless, wetlands are disappearing three times faster than forests, with over one-third of

wetland ecosystems lost since 1970 — and the qualities that make wetlands considerable carbon sinks also make them potentially devastating carbon sources.

When we consider that peatlands alone hold 30% of all carbon stored on land — roughly twice the amount stored in the world’s forests despite comprising just 3% of the global land surface — and that intact mangrove swamps hold four times more carbon per hectare than rainforests, it becomes clear that protection and restoration of wetlands must be central to global action on the climate crisis.

The conservation and restoration of wetlands will also play an instrumental role in halting and reversing global biodiversity loss. Currently, one quarter of plant and animal species are threatened with extinction. Coastal wetlands such as mangroves are among the most biodiverse ecosystems on Earth.

It's vital that global agreements on biodiversity acknowledge the significance of wetlands, so that we can put in place the necessary initiatives to protect and restore these delicate ecosystems.

Not only will this help to preserve critically endangered species, it will give security to over 1 billion people globally who rely on wetlands for their livelihoods, water supplies, food, and health. We must also consider the protection from droughts, floods, fires, sea level rise, and other extreme weather events that wetlands offer.

If we don’t better manage and restore wetlands, the lives and livelihoods of the most vulnerable people will come under increasing threat. Instead we must build the resilience of cities and rural landscapes through protecting and restoring wetlands.

We won’t get there without clear goals. As talks in Nairobi commence, Wetlands International is calling for five global wetlands targets to be adopted internationally and met by the end of the decade. These include increasing the area of mangroves and tidal flats by 20% and 10% respectively, as well as ensuring that remaining undrained peatland carbon stores remain intact, and 10 million hectares of drained peatland are restored.

This will require extensive coordination and cooperation, but existing landscape-scale programs show what is possible. The most sustainable solutions are driven by local communities on the ground, when the right support is provided. In Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, communities are working to restore and conserve 149,800 hectares of intact peat swamp forest, preventing it from becoming an industrial timber plantation.

In Cacheu national park in Guinea-Bissau, ecological mangrove restoration is underway to rehabilitate abandoned rice fields. And in the high Andean wetlands of Argentina and Peru, more than 270 families have participated in a project to support sustainable grazing for cattle across over 6,690 hectares of wetland habitat.

We need to see more action like this across the globe, and coherent global targets are essential to drive action and finance, and ensure accountability. That’s why we’ll continue to speak up for wetlands — and for nature and the people who have no voice of their own in the global negotiations that will determine their future, and the future of our planet.