MedWet supercharges the role of Ramsar Regional Initiatives at COP15 of the Ramsar Convention

The 15th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Convention on Wetlands (COP15) took place from 23 to 31 July 2025 in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. Based on the theme “Protecting Wetlands for Our Common Future,” the conference highlighted the crucial role wetlands play in maintaining ecological health, supporting biodiversity, and strengthening climate resilience.

COP15 brought together delegates from the Convention’s 172 Contracting Parties, along with representatives from international and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), wetland experts, observers, and other stakeholders. Through plenary sessions, side events, and informal meetings, participants engaged in key discussions aimed at advancing wetland conservation, enhancing international cooperation, and promoting sustainable practices to safeguard these vital ecosystems and the services they provide.

With so much going on, we are still digesting the details of the COP. We heard the surprise announcement that Russia has withdrawn from the Convention, the first country ever to do so, an example of how global politics is making environmental conservation increasingly challenging. However, the United Arab Emirates will be joining shortly and was in attendance which is positive. For the first time in 15 years, the COP agreed a budget increase of just over 4%, again a very positive move that will provide valuable resources to the delivery of the Convention. The Strategic Plan 5 was agreed at the last minute after much negotiation, as were all the other Draft Resolutions. Finally, Panama agreed to host COP16 in three-year time, something to work towards.

The MedWet/COM 16

In parallel with the Ramsar COP15, MedWet held the 16th meeting of the Mediterranean Wetland Committee (MedWet/Com 16), its governing body.

Government representatives, national and international organizations, and wetland experts gathered to discuss and adopt key decisions that will shape the future of MedWet and strengthen efforts to protect Mediterranean wetlands.

Key decisions made during MedWet/Com 16 include the election of Turkey as the new MedWet Chair, with Egypt as Co-chair, the appointment of new regional representatives, and the adoption of a three-year budget and workplan.

MedWet’s significant contribution to side events

Coordination meeting between the Ramsar Regional Initiatives (RRIs) and the Ramsar Secretariat

MedWet chaired this meeting of the 15 RRIs attending the conference, with Musonda Mumba, Secretary General of the Convention on Wetlands, and Beom-sik Yoo, Senior Advisor for Asia/Oceania at the Convention.

Chris Rostron and Musonda Mumba at the RRI coordination meeting, COP15

The group discussed the issues facing RRIs, how they can support each other and learn from each other, and how the Secretariat could better support them by using reporting to promote the achievements of the RRI mechanism.

RRI coordination meeting, COP15

Ramsar Regional Initiatives – delivering for Ramsar globally through regional partnerships

MedWet hosted a joint side event bringing together all RRIs to celebrate their achievements and share good practices from around the world.

MedWet, the oldest RRI, opened the event attended by over 100 participants, with a welcome from Coordinator Chris Rostron. The event was honored by the presence of Dr Musonda Mumba, Secretary General of the Convention on Wetlands. She shared inspiring words on the central role of RRIs in delivering the Convention’s objectives and strengthening its global impact.

Representatives of RRIs taking part in the side event at Ramsar COP15

The event showcased the diversity of RRI work across regions, with testimonials from contracting parties. The session also explored future directions—promoting collaboration between RRIs, supporting less active ones, and considering the creation of new initiatives.

Key strengths of the RRIs identified during the session include:

Leveraging funding to support the implementation of Ramsar objectives at regional and national levels.
Providing a supportive mechanism for Contracting Parties.
Delivering Ramsar activities such as World Wetlands Day, capacity building, and wetland inventories.

The RRIs reaffirmed the importance of stronger collaboration, peer learning, and using the identity of the Convention on Wetlands to increase visibility, influence, and opportunities.

At the Ramsar COP15, Chris Rostron, Coordinator of MedWet, met with Musonda Mumba, Secretary General of the Convention on Wetlands, to discuss the vital role of MedWet—the oldest Ramsar Regional Initiative—in advancing the Convention’s objectives across the Mediterranean. Their exchange highlighted MedWet’s long-standing contributions to wetland conservation, wetland data collection, knowledge sharing, training on wetland inventories, regional cooperation, and policy support in one of the world’s most ecologically and culturally diverse regions.

The Mediterranean Wetlands Observatory: A science-policy interface to guide decisions

Through the Mediterranean Wetlands Observatory, MedWet facilitated a special side event hosted by the Observatory to launch the “Mediterranean Wetlands Outlook 3 “ report, titled: “Mediterranean Wetlands: Responses to ongoing crises”.

The event highlighted the Mediterranean Wetlands Observatory’s role as a science-policy interface, providing data to monitor Mediterranean wetlands and support the work of MedWet. It brought together representatives from Contracting Parties, researchers, and NGOs to discuss wetland trends, share knowledge, and propose collaborative, nationally tailored solutions. The session emphasized translating scientific data into policy to advance MedWet’s strategic objectives and Ramsar commitments.

More information about the “Mediterranean Wetlands Outlook 3” report can be found here.

Marianne Courouble, policy expert, represented MedWet during the panel discussion, emphasizing the crucial need for sound, up-to-date, and reliable data on the status of wetlands to strengthen policy advocacy. She highlighted the importance of informing decision-makers and stakeholders about the urgency of protecting Mediterranean wetlands. Marianne also underscored the intrinsic link between healthy wetlands, the vital ecosystem services they provide, and the resilience of Mediterranean populations, ecosystems, and economies—now increasingly threatened by climate change.

Scaling restoration of degraded freshwater ecosystems and the role of the Freshwater Challenge

MedWet participated in the event through its policy expert, Marianne Courouble, who represented the Mediterranean region alongside the Fondation Prince Albert II de Monaco.

MedWet emphasized the urgent need for action and recommended that:

It is urgent that national and local authorities prioritize green infrastructures through the restoration of watersheds, of ecological flows instead of grey infrastructures like more dams that cannot provide more water resources because there is no water behind them due to climate change and unsustainable water uses. It proves to be more cost-effective to use nature-based options in the longer run.
It is imperative to consider integrated land use and watershed management plans. All ecosystems are interconnected and therefore should be considered in their entirety.
It is crucial to set up inclusive governance systems at the local level where all the local stakeholders and water users are around the table to develop and manage together restoration and management plans for an equitable share of water resources. It is a key element to develop ownership and create local incentives for the conservation of freshwater ecosystems.

National Wetlands Inventories: Tools, Challenges and Opportunities across the Globe

Through the Mediterranean Wetlands Observatory, MedWet attended the event that raised awareness of National Wetlands Inventories (NWIs) and their role in informed policy and management. The event provided a platform for stakeholders to exchange knowledge on NWI methods, benefits, challenges, and updates across regions, with insights from Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Europe. The session also explored the use of Earth Observation technologies for wetland monitoring.

Overseas dialogue between the Caribbean, Europe and the Mediterranean – Building skills and knowledge to address climate change through wetland-based solutions

This event showcased how three regional projects—RESTORE4Cs (Europe), RESCOM (Mediterranean), and the Wise Use of Caribbean Wetlands—are building capacity for wetland restoration through training programs, joint monitoring, and a Community of Practice for Wetland Restoration. It promoted interregional dialogue on barriers, drivers, and enablers of restoration, highlighting governance tools, policy examples, and approaches to identify priority sites.

The Mediterranean Biodiversity Consortium (MBC), represented by MedWet, took part in this side event. Marianne Courouble, from MedWet, presented the RESCOM project — the first regional initiative led by the MBC, a consortium of key conservation organisations. Marianne highlighted the following features of RESCOM:

A Mediterranean community of practice with the involvement of 9 coastal Mediterranean sites, including many wetlands.
Capacity building modules on Nature-based solutions involving site managers.
A Think and Do Tank currently working on the best solutions to adapt the management plan of protected areas to climate change to be applied to selected sites.
An advocacy strategy so that regional policy better integrate risk associated to climate change and biodiversity loss and support Nature-based Solutions to better support conservation on the ground.
An advocacy strategy aimed at influencing regional policy to better integrate risks associated with climate change and biodiversity loss, while supporting Nature-based Solutions to enhance on-the-ground conservation efforts.

Launch of the Southern Africa Ramsar Regional Initiative (SARRI)

Chris Rostron, MedWet Coordinator, participated in a panel during the launch side event of SARRI. The main objective of the launch was to formally introduce SARRI and raise awareness about its mission to support a broad range of conservation and development opportunities in wetland landscapes across the SADC region.

Chris Rostron in the panel during the SARRI launch side event, alongside Sandra Ponde (Zambia), and Florent Merle from the French Biodiversity Agency (OFB)

The event highlighted the importance of wetlands as critical ecosystems for biodiversity, climate resilience, and sustainable livelihoods. By engaging key stakeholders, the launch emphasized the need for collaborative efforts to address pressing environmental challenges while promoting socio-economic development.

From the Mediterranean to the world: RRIs shine at COP15

MedWet coordinated with the other RRIs to host a 6m x 3m stand at COP15, showcasing global wetland information and screening the RRI film produced by the Ramsar Secretariat, which highlights the diverse and far-reaching impact of the RRIs worldwide. MedWet also created a world map featuring all the RRIs, each accompanied by QR codes linking to their respective websites.

The MedWet team at the RRI stand

The RRIs took turns staffing the stand—and the MedWet Coordinator even had the honour of welcoming His Excellency, the President of Zimbabwe.

The MedWet Coordinator with the President of Zimbabwe

In addition, MedWet produced a new fold-out map of the region, showing information on Ramsar Sites, flyways, wetland cities and with artist impressions of the key wetland types around the Mediterranean basin. This was a great resource to share with partners, and will be an invaluable ongoing communications resource. A large wall-sized map based on this was produced for the booth, forming an excellent focus for discussions with visitors.

Wetland Resolutions

The key Draft Resolution for MedWet was the one on RRIs, confirming our role in the delivery of the Ramsar objectives. The Draft Resolution outlined the importance of the RRI mechanism to a successful implementation of the Convention. It also recognised the need for more RRIs, and allows for this to be supported inter-sessionally at the Standing Committees. It is an essential Resolution to allow our MedWet members to continue to support us, so includes our budget and contributions table.

The other Draft Resolution connected to MedWet side events was on the Ramsar Culture Network. This network has existed for many years, but is not as active as it used to be. As Culture is a crucial element of the Mediterranean, we have included it in MedWet’s workplan, and we will work with the RCN to continue to highlight the role of Culture in wetland conservation.

The 10-year Strategic Plan 5 focused on the idea of transformative change linking to the Convention on Biological Diversity, and highlighting the need for urgent action to protect and conserve wetlands. The MedWet Strategic Work Plan is based on the four goals of the plan, which are broadly similar to SP4.

Conclusions:

This COP saw the highest visibility and coordination of the RRIs for many years, really giving the Convention on Wetlands and its partners a clear idea of how RRIs contribute. In the last reporting period, RRIs brought in an additional CHF4 million (USD5 million) as well as countless benefits from project delivery, work with country members and other partners, and a strong CEPA focus. Our Stand, the side event and the new film really communicated this well. We also prepared and used a lot of communication materials to share on social media and our website. Working together with the RRIs has created a strong community that we intend to continue to support.

Time spent with the Ramsar Secretariat was invaluable, and showed that they hugely appreciate what the MedWet and the RRIs do for the Convention. Discussions with Musonda Mumba, the Ramsar regional representatives and other members of the Secretariat team have confirmed our relationships with them. We also worked closely with the IOPs (International Organisation Partners) of Ramsar, who share many similar areas of activity and with whom we already work at the regional level.

MedWet governance has renewed its commitment, and we now have representatives from each region, as well as a sound budget and workplan. Spending time face-to-face with our country members also helped to develop our relationships with them and get a good idea of what they need from MedWet and how we can support them. The next three years give us great cause for energy and optimism, with projects clearly defined and commitment from contracting parties and key partners.

The MedWet team achieved a huge amount, both those at the COP, those working behind the scenes at home, and the MedWet/Com members who played an active role to make things happen. A huge thanks to you all for making this a truly successful and memorable COP for MedWet, we have grown hugely in the ten short, but extremely busy, days we spent at Victoria Falls.

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