Commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands – part 2

This issue of Marine and Freshwater Research contains eight manuscripts as a second part of a special issue to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. As explained in the editorial that accompanied the first part of the special issue (Finlayson et al. 2022a), the text of the Convention was agreed in the Iranian city of Ramsar on 2 February 1971¹ and signed by representatives of some 18 countries on 3 February. The President of the conference then ‘…expressed his deep emotions of pleasure and satisfaction at this achievement of the Conference’ and ‘…anticipated that the Ramsar Convention, as he hoped it would become known, was just the beginning of an expansion of activity in the field with which the Conference was concerned’ (Matthews 1993, p. 27). That was a little over 50 years ago. To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the signing of the text we have compiled manuscripts that add further details about elements of the Convention. In the second part of the special issue there are eight papers and these are identified after their citation in this editorial as being ‘in this issue’.

Since the publication of the first part of the special issue in October 2022 (Issues 9–10 of Volume 73, September 2022), the Convention held its 14th Conference of Parties (COP) concurrently in Wuhan, China, and Geneva, Switzerland, from 5 to 13 November 2022. Representatives from 146 of the 172 Contracting Parties and 55 observer organisations convened to negotiate and agree a set of resolutions aimed at strengthening national efforts for the conservation and wise use of all wetlands. The holding of the COP overlapped the 27th COP of the UNFCCC in Cairo, Egypt, from 6 to 20 November 2022 and preceded the 15th COP of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Montreal, Canada, from 7 to 19 December 2022. These COPs negotiated respective inter alia major decisions on the creation of a multi-lateral funding mechanism for financing losses and damage for vulnerable countries hit by climate disasters, and an agreement on a post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. Both have major consequences for wetlands given their vulnerability to climate change, ability to sequester carbon (Moomaw et al. 2018), mitigate storm damage, and the state and trends of wetland biota and ecosystem services (Ramsar Convention Secretariat 2018).

The papers presented in this issue of Marine and Freshwater Research contribute to the expanding global information base for the topics covered in these decisions. Rogers et al. (2023 in this issue) investigates how prioritisation of restoration of coastal wetlands in part of eastern Australia by restoring tidal flows could be linked with opportunities to increase the storage of blue carbon, and enhance the co-benefits from such efforts. This drew on a method developed by the Australian Government for payment for carbon services from blue carbon ecosystems that can assist with the mitigation of climate change. The concern around wetland decline is continued with Kingsford and Walburn (2023 in this issue) anticipating further impacts on wetlands, including a Ramsar site, in Australia’s Lake Eyre Basin through the development of infrastructure for oil and gas exploration and production, and the shortcomings they saw in existing legislation and policy designed for their protection. Arslan et al. (2023 in this issue) examined information derived from historical literature, expert knowledge and survey, and from citizen science databases to examine bird community structure and composition to show decline in abundance of agricultural and grassland birds and increases in coastal wetland and marine birds as a consequence of the extension of saltpans and conservation activities. Santhanam et al. (2023 in this issue), when addressing the restoration of a coastal lagoon in India, highlighted the threats from urbanisation and port develoment and the consequent need to create policies that recognised these threats and the mainstreaming of nature-based solutions.

Pedretti and Robson (2023 in this issue) further consider issues related to the restoration of coastal embayments through a review of information from a range of disciplines as a basis for illustrating the value of longer time-frames when establishing references for restoration ecology. Continuing the restoration theme, Lyons et al. (2023 in this issue) provide a critique of the legislated method for evaluation of the use of environmental flows in the Murray–Darling Basin in Australia. In addition to highlighting flaws and recommending improvements they consider the potential overstatement of environmental benefits.

Horwitz (2023 in this issue) presents a policy perspective whereby wetlands are considered as social ecological systems where the health of wetlands and of people are interdependent with the relationships being representations of relational values that can be elevated to support governance and management arrangements. In particular, these arrangements can be co-designed with Indigenous and local communities and allow for the sharing of and respect for stories about these relationships. Fabricante et al. (2023 in this issue) produced a map of the distribution of wetlands in Argentina by making use of open data sources developed for other purposes. They stress the importance of using local data when mapping the distribution of wetlands, in particular, contributing to reducing the information gaps for wetlands in South America.

With the publication of this second set of papers to commemorate the 50th year of the Ramsar Convention, a trend setting process for international environmental treaties (Stroud et al. 2022), it is poignant to keep in mind that despite the combined efforts of the Contracting Parties to the Convention that many wetlands, their species populations, and ecosystem services are in decline. There have been many successes, such as those shown by the listing of more than 2400 sites as Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar sites). However, a report tabled at COP14 noted that 50% of Ramsar sites did not have management plans, and for 75% of all sites the publicly available information was out of date (Ramsar Convention Secretariat 2022). If the vision of those who negotiated throughout the 1960s to form the Convention is to be realised, the Contracting Parties over the next few years, not another 50, need to deliver a quantum leap in effective actions as a combined group with improved individual and multi-lateral outcomes. Nowadays this could well be expressed as a need for transformational change … in the way the Convention does its business.

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment that reported in 2005 on the state of wetlands globally noted the importance of wetlands and provided an initial overview of the extent of decline, and the drivers of that decline, both direct and indirect (Finlayson and D’Cruz 2005; Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005). It also noted the importance of engaging across multiple sectors if such declines were to be reversed or prevented. Further assessments have since extended such reporting and refined the messaging around not just the decline in wetlands, but also about their value and the consequences for people from the ongoing loss of ecosystem services.

Many of the key direct drivers of negative outcomes have been addressed to some extent, but it is uncertain whether or not sufficient attention has been directed by the Convention towards the indirect drivers – the underlying causes of wetland loss and decline. The argument that such efforts are within the realm of a wetland convention has not seemingly been heeded. As the Ramsar Convention develops a new strategic plan to guide its Contracting Parties into a second half century the lessons of the first need careful dissection – too many of the indicators for wetlands are negative, as is adherence to the commitments made through the Convention processes. Diluting these commitments is surely not the way forward – will doing that fulfil the vision of the 1960s, and as restated over the subsequent half century?

The outcomes of the COPs held by the climate change and biodiversity conventions may pave the way for the wetland convention which was a pioneer for intergovernmental environmental policy and practice to fulfil its visionary beginnings, as formalised in the text that was agreed in 1971. The current mission of the Convention is wordier and in line with the jargon of its time, but the vision remains, and is not fulfilled (Davidson et al. 2020a). To this we can add climate change which was not seen as an issue in 1971, but is as much an issue for wetlands as it is for forest or mountain ecosystems regardless of the ineffectual negotiations that have hampered the development of effective guidance for wetland users and managers to respond and limit further adverse change, including the loss of ecosystem services that bring benefits to many people (Finlayson et al. 2017). The post 2020 Global Biodiversity Framework is an opportunity to re-express the goals and successes of the Ramsar Convention and package it as a radical process, as was the agreement in 1971 to develop a convention on wetlands, to ensure that the vision is achieved. There had been nothing like the Ramsar Convention before 1971 – the culmination of the efforts of a small group of dedicated wetland experts who set out to convince the world that wetlands were valuable, and in decline, and global action was needed to turn this around.

The papers in this issue do not provide a blueprint for such future efforts, but they do indicate that our wetland science is strong and our knowledge base can support such ambitions. Will the second 50 years of the Ramsar Convention see a second radical statement of intent, and be accompanied by the radical action that is needed to move beyond the rhetoric and the cosmetics of recent times and advance the cause of wetlands? Such statements may seem disrespectful of the effort that has occurred, and, although that is not intended, the evidence (e.g. see Ramsar Convention Secretariat 2018; Davidson et al. 2020a, 2020b) very clearly points to a need for further action. And what better time to generate further action than when reflecting on a golden anniversary and its achievements and shortfalls.

As it is not our intent to dissect the past or the future, we conclude by thanking our contributing authors for their contributions to the two parts of this special issue of Marine and Freshwater Research. Commemoration of the successes of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands over the past 50 years is a worthy activity. Recognising the achievements and the energy and commitment of the achievers is an incredibly valuable activity – to ignore this is to belie the history and de-escalate the basic principles of participation and engagement with our stalwarts, supporters and contributors. At the same time, we hope to encourage the continued recognition of the scientific effort that initiated the Convention and that has sustained its processes and the achievements. In saying this, we do not interpret science as a narrow concept devoid of social and cultural practices, nor indeed as separate from agriculture and other practices in support of human well-being. The papers published in the two parts of this special issue show the relevance and importance of the linkages between different sectors, whether defined on a social or disciplinary basis, and in particular the value of social research when addressing the mission of the Convention. In fact, as expressed by Kumar et al. (2021), there is a case for transitioning the Convention from one that addresses the ecological character of wetlands to one that addresses the character of wetlands, including the social and cultural alongside the ecological elements that characterise and maintain our healthy wetlands. Further proposals include reframing the relationships between people and wetlands through statements about the rights of wetlands (Finlayson et al. 2022b).

We encourage our readers to embrace the multi-disciplinary messages outlined in the papers in this special issue, and we also recommend the papers as a further contribution to achieving the goals (or the visions, missions or value statements) we share for wetlands, their biota and ecosystem services. And while doing this, assist each other make the post-anniversary years of the Convention meaningful through events that herald step-wise changes in our efforts to ensure the future of our wetlands as we face the next half century for the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.

No new data were generated in the production of this editorial. Individual papers in the special issue contain their own statements about data availability.

The Guest Editors were all members of the journal’s editorial board when the manuscripts included in the special issue were submitted; however, did not at any stage have editor-level access to manuscript(s) they co-authored while in peer review. They have no further conflicts of interest to declare.

The special issue and this editorial did not receive any specific funding.