Healthy wetlands have a crucial role to play in the fight against global warming. They capture carbon, storing it first in their biomass and then in their sediments – and they do it at a rate 10-20 times greater than temperate or boreal forests. But when wetlands are destroyed, not only do they stop absorbing carbon, but they also release their stores back into the atmosphere, increasing greenhouse gases. How […]
Healthy, functioning wetlands ensure well-being for people in the Mediterranean by providing good-quality water, by mitigating the negative effects of extreme climatic events, by contributing to food production, and by preserving biodiversity. Restoring wetlands is an effective solution to ensure the supply of those essential ecosystem services for the Mediterranean Basin and it is the urgent and essential Nature-based solution to the region’s most pressing challenges such as the climate […]
In 2018, the Convention on Wetlands published the first ever Global Wetland Outlook – a unique report promoting increased understanding of the status and value of wetlands, and providing recommendations towards ensuring that wetlands are conserved, wisely used and their benefits recognized and valued by all. Its findings on widespread degradation and loss of wetlands globally, and the implications of this, constituted a wake-up call and was instrumental in raising […]
France has published an expert report on Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Sites) and the preservation of marine turtles in support of the implementation of Resolution XIII.24. The 13th Conference of the Parties to the Ramsar Convention, held in Dubai in October 2018, adopted Resolution XIII.24 on The enhanced conservation of coastal marine turtle habitats and the designation of key areas as Ramsar Sites. The Resolution aims to draw the attention of […]
Since 2017, the Mediterranean Waterbird Network (MWN) has been exchanging with other Mediterranean countries, in addition to the five historical North African partners. Discussions with these new countries (France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey, but also Portugal, Albania, Serbia, Montenegro, Northern Macedonia) have led to the development of a scientific poster to be presented at an international conference (EBBC, 2019), a scientific paper to be reviewed in a scientific journal […]
Inextricably linked to the ecological health of our planet and to the socio-economic well-being of all peoples across the globe, wetlands serve and sustain us in immeasurable ways. In fact, they are vital for our survival. Yet, the world has lost 87% of its wetlands since 1700 — and they continue to disappear at an alarming rate, even today. The Convention on Wetlands recognizes that the restoration of the Earth’s […]