Training Workshop – Introduction to National Wetland Inventories

From February 10 to 14, the Tour du Valat hosted a training workshop on the theme “Introduction to National Wetland Inventories (NWIs)”, organized by the Ramsar Secretariat with the support of the Mediterranean Wetlands Observatory (MWO).

©Laura BERNER-ALTENEDER

A practical training combining theory and fieldwork

Following an initial session in English, held in South Korea from 9 to 13 September 2024, this second French-language edition brought together 20 participants from 10 countries in Africa and the Indian Ocean. Dedicated to introducing the NWIs, the training aimed to present them and highlight their importance in national conservation, management, and restoration strategies for these ecosystems. It also aimed to share and explain the different stages involved, as well as the necessary databases for facilitating their implementation, including those derived from Earth Observation tools.

Anis Guelmami, Coordinator of the Mediterranean Wetlands Observatory. ©Laura BERNER-ALTENEDER

In addition to theoretical presentations, participants carried out practical exercises and took part in several field visits in diverse environments: coastal wetlands typical of the Camargue within the Regional Nature Reserve of the Tour du Valat, as well as the Vigueirat Marshes Nature Reserve, and a freshwater wetland in the Raphèle and Meyranne marshes, also managed by the Association des Amis des Marais du Vigueirat and belonging to the Conservatoire du Littoral.

This training workshop is part of a three-year program with three annual modules, each offered in three languages: English, French, and Spanish. The goals are to:

Transmit methodologies and best practices for the implementation of NWIs to the Contracting Parties involved in each session;
Develop their skills in wetland mapping, particularly using Earth Observation technologies and
Support them in carrying out and updating their NWIs.

Flore Lafaye de Micheaux, Senior Advisor Europe for the Convention on Wetlands. ©Laura BERNER-ALTENEDER

Why focus on National Wetland Inventories (NWIs)?

NWIs are an urgent priority for the sustainable management of these ecosystems. An inventory helps establish the state of a territory through three main axes: water, biodiversity and landscape, and socio-economic activities.

Moreover, NWIs address multiple challenges simultaneously:

Sharing and pooling, as they require coordination between stakeholders;
Regulation, by recognizing the importance of these ecosystems in public policies, particularly for managing resources such as water and land;
Knowledge about the state and trends of these environments, the biodiversity they support, and the ecosystem services they provide.

The establishment of an NWI thus contributes to achieving several international commitments, including the Sustainable Development Goals (particularly Goal 6), Targets 1 to 3 of the Global Biodiversity Framework of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Land Degradation Neutrality targets of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, as well as the climate measures outlined in the Paris Agreement of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

MedWet’s Contribution to the training session:

Chris Rostron, MedWet Coordinator, introduced MedWet and talked about the role of Ramsar Regional Initiatives (RRIs) in promoting and amplifying the objectives of the Convention on Wetlands. An essential part of the RRIs’ work is to support contracting parties, NGOs and other partners to help protect and restore wetlands. Wetland inventories form a key part of this, and MedWet will include this topic in its work with country members around the Mediterranean region.

Contact

Anis Guelmami, Coordinator of the Mediterranean Wetlands Observatory
guelmami@tourduvalat.org

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