Latest news with #ConventiononWetlands
Canada News.Net
4 days ago
- Politics
- Canada News.Net
9 Chinese cities accredited as int'l wetland cities
Nine Chinese cities were accredited as international wetland cities on Thursday during the opening of the COP15 in Zimbabwe, raising China's total to 22, the highest globally. VICTORIA FALLS, Zimbabwe, July 25 (Xinhua) -- A total of nine Chinese cities were accredited as international wetland cities on Thursday during the opening of the 15th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (COP15) held in Zimbabwe's resort city of Victoria Falls, bringing the total number of such cities in China to 22, the highest in the world. The nine newly accredited cities are Chongming in Shanghai, Dali in Yunnan Province, Fuzhou in Fujian Province, Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province, Jiujiang in Jiangxi Province, Lhasa in the Xizang Autonomous Region, Suzhou in Jiangsu Province, Wenzhou in Zhejiang Province, and Yueyang in Hunan Province. Johane Chenjekwa, mayor of Kasane in Botswana, commended China for promoting wetland conservation, noting that Africa can benefit from cooperation with China in wetland management. "We will see, as we interact, what we can learn from them. They are also willing to learn from how we do things here, so it's really a (great) experience to be mingling (together)," he said. Chenjekwa added that as the world faces the common challenge of wetland degradation, joint efforts with China can help tackle its impacts. In his opening remarks, Jay Aldous, deputy secretary-general of the Convention on Wetlands, noted that while urbanization brings tangible development progress, there is a need to ensure that it does not interfere with wetland preservation. "Unplanned or poorly managed urban expansion has emerged as a global concern, contributing to the degradation of wetlands, loss of biodiversity, disruption of ecological balance, rising greenhouse gas emissions, worsening air and water pollution, and escalating the impacts of climate change," he said. In response to these challenges and recognizing the pivotal role of cities and urban wetlands, the Convention on Wetlands launched the Wetland City Accreditation scheme to encourage the protection of urban wetlands and their integration into sustainable urban planning, Aldous said. "By embracing the convention's principles of wise use, cities can harness the ecological, social, and economic benefits that wetlands provide, including climate adaptation and mitigation, flood regulation, cultural value, and improved human well-being," he said. Held under the theme of "Protecting Wetlands for our Common Future", the COP15, which will conclude on July 31, has brought together contracting parties to strengthen international commitments to wetland protection.
Zawya
4 days ago
- Politics
- Zawya
As Wetlands COP15 opens in Zimbabwe, it's time to rethink how we value wetlands
Hon. Dr Evelyn Ndlovu (center), Minister of Environment, Climate and Wildlife, Republic of Zimbabwe and Secretary General Musonda Mumba (right) speak at a press conference ahead of the #WetlandsCOP15, which officially kicks off today in Victoria Convention on Wetlands As Zimbabwe hosts the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Convention on Wetlands (COP15), this location invites a closer look at the role wetlands play in sustaining life, and the decisions now needed to ensure they continue to do so. COP15 arrives at a moment when wetlands—essential for climate resilience, food production, water supply, and biodiversity—are being lost and degraded at a rate that outpaces our responses. According to the Convention's recently released flagship publication, the Global Wetland Outlook 2025, global wetland extent has declined by 22% since 1970, with losses continuing at an average rate of 0.52% per year. Degradation is accelerating: one in four remaining wetlands is now in poor ecological condition, with that proportion rising. Despite these figures, wetlands still provide some of the most valuable and cost-effective solutions to the world's most pressing challenges. They support water security for billions of people, absorb carbon more efficiently than most other ecosystems, and deliver an estimated $7.98 to $39.01 trillion in annual ecosystem services. Yet these contributions remain undervalued in decision-making and underfunded in public and private investment. Zimbabwe knows better than many others just how important wetlands are. Wetlands provide water to more than two-thirds of the population, allowing for agriculture and tourism while buffering against floods and droughts. In response to growing pressures, the Government has implemented stronger legal protections, advanced local restoration initiatives, and deepened public engagement on wetland issues. The recent recognition of Victoria Falls as a Wetland City reflects both local commitment and the kind of urban ecological leadership that can be replicated elsewhere. But national ambition—however strong—cannot substitute for global coordination. Wetlands are shared systems. They cross borders and connect sectors. Protecting them requires cooperation, consistent investment, and a shift in how they are understood: as strategic infrastructure that protects the stability of our economies, health systems, and food supply. The Global Wetland Outlook 2025, sets out the scale of action needed: at least 123 million hectares must be restored to account for past loss, and 428 million hectares of remaining wetlands must be conserved. Doing so will require a major increase in global financing—somewhere between $275 and $550 billion per year —yet current investments fall far below that range. In fact, biodiversity conservation across all ecosystems receives just 0.25% of global GDP. Zimbabwe's hosting of COP15 is both timely and significant. It brings global attention to a region where wetlands are still deeply embedded in the landscape and culture, but also increasingly vulnerable. The conference presents a unique opportunity to prioritise wetlands in the biodiversity and climate agendas, and to align technical, political, and financial systems behind that goal. Africa, home to approximately 40% of the world's remaining wetlands, is well positioned to lead this shift. Many of the continent's wetlands remain ecologically functional, and traditional knowledge of sustainable management practices endures. But external pressures—driven by extractive industries, land-use change, and climate stress—are growing rapidly. Without targeted support, we risk losing these ecosystems for good. COP15 can help turn that tide. The Convention provides a platform for negotiation, as well as strategies, data, policies, and innovations. It is also a place to elevate voices that are often underrepresented—local communities, Indigenous groups, cities, and young people—who are already shaping the future of wetland stewardship on the ground. This meeting in Victoria Falls will not solve every problem. But it can set a new trajectory. Decisions made here have the potential to ripple outward, shaping how wetlands are valued and governed across continents. Rivers rarely follow straight lines, and neither does meaningful change. But when enough tributaries converge, that momentum can become difficult to ignore. It's a life lesson that wetlands have taught us, and perhaps now the world is finally ready to listen. © Copyright The Zimbabwean. All rights reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
The Star
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Star
2nd LD Writethru: 9 Chinese cities accredited as int'l wetland cities
VICTORIA FALLS, Zimbabwe, July 24 (Xinhua) -- A total of nine Chinese cities were accredited as international wetland cities on Thursday during the opening of the 15th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (COP15) held in Zimbabwe's resort city of Victoria Falls, bringing the total number of such cities in China to 22, the highest in the world. The nine newly accredited cities are Chongming in Shanghai, Dali in Yunnan Province, Fuzhou in Fujian Province, Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province, Jiujiang in Jiangxi Province, Lhasa in the Xizang Autonomous Region, Suzhou in Jiangsu Province, Wenzhou in Zhejiang Province, and Yueyang in Hunan Province. Johane Chenjekwa, mayor of Kasane in Botswana, commended China for promoting wetland conservation, noting that Africa can benefit from cooperation with China in wetland management. "We will see, as we interact, what we can learn from them. They are also willing to learn from how we do things here, so it's really a (great) experience to be mingling (together)," he said. Chenjekwa added that as the world faces the common challenge of wetland degradation, joint efforts with China can help tackle its impacts. In his opening remarks, Jay Aldous, deputy secretary-general of the Convention on Wetlands, noted that while urbanization brings tangible development progress, there is a need to ensure that it does not interfere with wetland preservation. "Unplanned or poorly managed urban expansion has emerged as a global concern, contributing to the degradation of wetlands, loss of biodiversity, disruption of ecological balance, rising greenhouse gas emissions, worsening air and water pollution, and escalating the impacts of climate change," he said. In response to these challenges and recognizing the pivotal role of cities and urban wetlands, the Convention on Wetlands launched the Wetland City Accreditation scheme to encourage the protection of urban wetlands and their integration into sustainable urban planning, Aldous said. "By embracing the convention's principles of wise use, cities can harness the ecological, social, and economic benefits that wetlands provide, including climate adaptation and mitigation, flood regulation, cultural value, and improved human well-being," he said. Held under the theme of "Protecting Wetlands for our Common Future", the COP15, which will conclude on July 31, has brought together contracting parties to strengthen international commitments to wetland protection.
Canada News.Net
6 days ago
- General
- Canada News.Net
Canadian wetlands are treasures that deserve protection
Share article Copy article link Print article Though Canada is often known as a land of lakes, it is also a country of wetlands. Stretching like a necklace of emeralds, sapphires and rubies across the Canadian landscape, wetlands cover 14 per cent of the Canadian land mass, accounting for almost twice as much area as lakes. Canada is home to a quarter of the world's remaining wetlands, yet they remain like hidden treasures that most Canadians rarely pay a second thought. The importance of wetlands to a sustainable future has been recognized internationally. Signed in 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramsar, the Convention on Wetlands - often called the Ramsar Convention - supports international collaboration and national action for the conservation of wetlands. This week, delegations from contracting parties to the convention, including Canada, have come together in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, for the 15th Conference of the Parties. Despite decades of efforts, wetlands continue to be under threat around the world. Delegates will work this week to chart a path forward that further elevates wetlands in the global consciousness, highlighting the need to protect these ecosystems and meet international goals to safeguard biodiversity and slow climate warming. Canada currently has 37 Wetlands of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention, covering more than 13 million hectares. Yet many of Canada's wetlands remain unprotected. The term "wetland" usually conjures an image of a shallow pond bordered by cattails. In fact, Canadian wetlands come in a range of shapes and sizes, all of which provide valuable services. Those reedy marshes provide critically important habitat and water storage, particularly in the Prairies, southern Ontario and Quebec. The vast majority of Canada's wetlands are made up of swamps, fens and bogs, most of which also hold deep deposits of organic soils called peat. Bogs and fens can resemble vast mossy carpets. But they can also look a lot like forests, hiding their soggy soils beneath a canopy of trees. This wetland diversity contributes to their value. At the interface of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, wetlands are often biodiversity hotspots. They are home to weird and wonderful species, including carnivorous plants like sundews, pitcher plants and bladderworts. And if you're hungry, peatlands are a great place for berry picking. Interwoven in our boreal landscape, wetlands also support iconic Canadian species like beavers, moose and woodland caribou and are key habitats for waterfowl and other migratory birds. Preserving wetlands is also a key flood mitigation strategy. Storm water can fill up pore spaces in mossy peat soils, or spread out across the flat expanse of swamps and marshes, reducing peak flows and helping to protect downstream infrastructure. As the water slows, water quality can also be improved. Sediments have time to settle, while plants and microbes can remove excess nutrients. In recent decades, wetlands have gained international attention for their role in carbon storage. Waterlogged sediment and soil lead to slow rates of decomposition. When plant litter falls in a wetland, it builds up over time, creating a bank of carbon that can be stored for millennia. Peatlands are particularly good at accumulating carbon, as they are home to plants that inherently decompose slowly. Because of this, peatlands store twice the carbon of the world's forests. Keeping this carbon stored in wetland soils, and out of the atmosphere, is important to climate change mitigation. Yet, the buildup of carbon in wetlands is slow. Many of these ecosystems have been adding to this carbon bank since the last ice age; digging through metres of peat is like travelling back through time, with the deposits at the bottom often thousands of years old. This means that the carbon stored in wetlands is irrecoverable within human lifetimes. Once lost, it will be many generations before the full value of this treasure can be returned. The economic value of the water-filtering and carbon storage that Canadian wetlands provide has been estimated at $225 billion per year. It's clear: healthy wetlands contribute to our society's well-being. But just as important, they are an integral component of the Canadian landscape. Wetlands are interwoven with our forests, fields, lakes and now even our cities. They link us to the land and water. They are places of wonder and spiritual connection. Despite their value, wetlands in Canada face many threats. In southern regions of Canada, most wetlands have already been lost to drainage for agriculture and urban development. Further north, up to 98 per cent of Canadian peatlands remain intact. However, climate change and resource development are already exacerbating wetland disturbance and loss. Warming temperatures have contributed to larger and more severe wildfire that also impact peatlands and lead to large carbon emissions. Thawing permafrost is further changing wetland landscapes and how they function. Warming also allows for northward expansion of agriculture with the potential for loss of even more wetland area to drainage. Natural resource extraction further contributes to wetland disturbance, often with unexpected consequences. Geologic exploration used to map oil and gas reserves has left a network of over one million kilometres of linear forest clearing across the boreal forest, much of which crosses peatlands. putting vast areas of our wetlands at risk. avoiding disturbances in the first place is the best way to safeguard wetlands.
Fashion Value Chain
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Fashion Value Chain
Greenstorm Unveils Winning Images Celebrating Beautiful Wetlands
The winners of the 16th Greenstorm Global Photography Festival were announced today at a virtual ceremony that brought together leading environmental voices, visual storytellers and an international audience. The Grand Prize-winning photograph by Mr. Steven Triet from Vietnam revealing the golden rice terraces of Lao Chai, Mu Cang Chai Themed 'Beautiful Wetlands', the festival, which is now in its 16th year, attracted 11,835 entries from 155 countries. The Grand Prize of USD $10,000 was awarded to Steven Triet from Vietnam. Hanifi Ko (Turkey), Aref Tahmasebi (UAE) and Pepe Manzanilla (Costa Rica) received Special Jury Mentions, each carrying a prize of USD $1,000. Dr Muralee Thummarukudy, Director of the (G20 GLI) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) announced the Festival's winners. G20 Global Land Initiative sponsored the festival for the second year running. It is using photography to both shine a light on the loss of terrestrial ecosystems and inspire actions all over the world to keep wetlands healthy in a bid to reach its ambition of reducing degraded land by 50 percent by 2040. Dr Musonda Mumba, Secretary General of the Convention on Wetlands, and Chief Guest at the event, said, 'Wetlands are our planet's natural infrastructure. They store carbon, clean water, protect us from floods and droughts, and sustain life in all its forms. But they are being degraded and destroyed faster than any other ecosystem.' 'The Global Wetland Outlook 2025 shows the consequences of this loss and the solutions already working around the world. COP15 in Victoria Falls next week is our moment to change course-through global commitment, national action and local innovation,' Dr Musonda Mumba added while speaking at the ceremony. According to the 2025 Global Wetland Outlook, released last week, wetlands are disappearing at a faster rate than any other ecosystem. About one-fifth of the world's remaining wetlands are expected to vanish by 2050 without urgent action. The loss is valued at USD 39 trillion in benefits that support people, economies, and nature. Some of the winning photos will be on display from 23-30 July 2025 at the 15th meeting of the Contracting Parties of the Convention on Wetlands taking place at Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. Nature conservation through an artistic lens The winning pictures, from the lush paddy fields in Vietnam to flamingoes in a lagoon in Tunisia, offer a breathtaking glimpse into the beauty and ecological diversity of the world's wetlands. From serene water bodies reflecting vibrant skies to the quiet resilience of marshland life, each photograph tells a story of balance, survival and the urgent need for conservation. The winners were selected through a two-tier jury process. The first-level jury included Alex Wides (Italy), Anilkumar (India), Dilek Yurdakul (Turkey), Jaclyn Bringuez (USA), Sahar Al-Zarei (UAE) and Thomas Onyango (Uganda). The Global Jury curated the finalists and selected the winners. Renowned photographers Charlie Waite (UK), Latika Nath (India), and Nick Hall (USA) made up the Jury. They observed that this year's entries covered a remarkable spread of subjects and pushed the boundaries, offering a clever, unusual and deeply human way of seeing wetlands. They stressed that in a world increasingly shaped by artificial images, photographs grounded in nature give us hope and reconnect us. What's more, they remind us that even while we're caught up in our routines, nature is still out there, shapeshifting under sun, wind and tide. 'For 16 years, the Greenstorm Festival has harnessed the power of visual storytelling to ignite a passion for nature conservation among young people worldwide. These evocative images not only showcase nature's beauty but drive meaningful behaviour change, inspiring the next generation to protect and restore our planet's vital ecosystems,' said Mr Dileep Narayanan, Founder and Managing Trustee of Greenstorm Foundation. Narayanan started the festival 16 years ago to raise awareness about the earth's fragile ecosystems. Greenstorm Foundation runs the annual global photography festival, and is based in Kochi, India. About Greenstorm Foundation Greenstorm Foundation is a global creative conservancy committed to inspiring an attitudinal shift among youth toward environmental conservation through the power of creativity. Its flagship initiative, the Greenstorm Photo Festival, has engaged over 12 million young minds across more than 150 countries. Founded in 2009 in Kerala, India, as a CSR initiative of Organic BPS, a purpose-driven brand consultancy, the Greenstorm has grown into one of the world's largest youth-led environmental photography movements. In 2023, Greenstorm joined hands with the G20 Global Land Initiative of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), further amplifying its global impact. A registered not-for-profit public trust in India, the Foundation is led by trustees Anil K Menon, Dileep Narayanan, and George Korah. Over the years, Greenstorm has earned numerous national and international accolades, including the prestigious IAA Olive Crown Award for excellence in green communication. About UNCCD-G20 Global Land Initiative The Initiative was set up by G20 Countries in 2020, during the Saudi Arabia Presidency. It supports member and non-member countries and organizations to avoid, reduce and reverse land degradation globally, in all ecosystems. The G20's ambition is to reduce degraded land globally by 50 per cent by 2040. This includes supporting the international community to achieve its global commitments of restoring, by 2030, one billion hectares of degraded land, an area about the size of the United States.
