Wetlands and poverty eradication
1.AWARE that Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 1 is to "eradicate extreme poverty and hunger" with a target of reducing by half the proportion of people who suffer from hunger by 2015 and ALSO AWARE that the implementation of the wise use provisions of the Ramsar Convention can contribute to poverty eradication and hence the achievement of this MDG and others, including MDG 7 on ensuring environmental sustainability;2.RECOGNIZING the vital role that many wetlands and their ecosystem services play in supporting people’s food security, livelihoods and human well-being, including through inter alia provision of food, fiber and other products, water for sanitation, drinking, irrigation and other purposes, and other services such as flood and storm surge protection; but CONCERNED that the continuing loss and degradation of wetlands reported by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) and other recent assessments is placing the continued provision of such services, and hence people’s health, livelihoods and well-being, at further risk;3.ALSO RECOGNIZING the importance of understanding poverty eradication issues and opportunities in relation to addressing climate change mitigation and adaptation for wetlands, including through wetland restoration activities, as indicated in Resolutions VIII.3 (2002) and X.24 (2008) concerning climate change and wetlands;4.RECALLING that in Resolution IX.14 (2005) on Wetlands and poverty reduction the Contracting Parties provided an overarching framework for Parties to address issues of poverty eradication in relation to wetland conservation and wise use, including through working in partnerships with UN agencies, the Ramsar International Organization Partners (IOPs), national and international NGOs, and others;5.RECOGNIZING the contribution to poverty eradication issues in relation to wetlands of the work of the partnerships between the Convention’s IOPs and others, including inter alia Wetlands International’s Wetlands and Poverty Reduction Project (WPRP) and Green Coast Project, and the Wetlands and Livelihoods Working Group (WLWG), especially through capacity-building and awareness-raising with local communities;6.NOTING that Resolution IX.14 did not identify all priority issues and responses relevant to poverty eradication in relation to wetlands, and that that Resolution, whilst providing a framework for action by Contracting Parties and others, did not provide guidance on ways and means of implementing such actions, and did not indicate the appropriate spatial scale(s) for implementation of different actions; and7.THANKING the governments of Ghana, Mali and Benin, as well as Wetlands International, for their support and work in developing this Resolution;The Conference of the Contracting Parties8.ENCOURAGES Contracting Parties to identify ways and means of further implementing the framework for action on wetlands and poverty reduction adopted in Resolution IX.14, and particularly action to eradicate poverty amongst communities living in and around Ramsar sites, and to report on their successes, challenges, constraints and opportunities in achieving action on integrating wetland conservation and poverty eradication, including on the trade-offs that are often necessary in such implementation;9.ALSO ENCOURAGES Contracting Parties, the IOPs, and others to provide to the Secretariat and the Scientific and Technical Review Panel (STRP) examples, particularly as documented case studies, that demonstrate that the wise use of wetland resources by local communities can provide a significant contribution to poverty eradication;10.URGES Contracting Parties, in relation to the framework of actions set out in Resolution IX.14, also to:i)continue to seek to integrate wetland wise use and management, including wetland restoration as appropriate, into all relevant national and regional policies, including in Poverty Reduction Strategies, National Climate Change Strategies (NAPAs), grant transferral programmes, and water and sanitation plans and strategies, taking into account the need to base such strategies on an understanding of specific wetlands’ current and projected future productivity, particularly where such wetland services may change over time;ii)recognize in their planning and land management policies and strategies the role of wetlands in sanitation and human health, particularly in relation to water-borne and water-related diseases, as well as the increased risks to human health caused by degraded wetlands, as described in Resolution X.23 on Wetlands and human health;iii)respect and incorporate traditional knowledge and practices and local perspectives into national wetland management and sustainable livelihood initiatives, as appropriate, in order to ensure enhanced acceptance by local community groups;iv)ensure that any early warning systems and contingency plans established to safeguard people against natural disasters such as cyclones, storm surges, droughts, floods, and tsunamis, include the use of wetland management and, as appropriate, restoration measures to protect against impacts of climate change, sea level rise, and saline intrusion, in implementation of Resolution VIII.35 (2002) on The impact of natural disasters, particularly drought, on wetland ecosystems;v)collaborate with relevant institutions in developing suitable ecotourism activities in wetlands in general, and especially in designated Ramsar sites, in order to provide opportunities to reduce poverty, whilst also taking into consideration the possible negative impacts of such tourism on wetland integrity and on local cultures;vi)collate knowledge on best practices and promote its transfer for the wise use, extraction, processing and marketing of wetland products in order to reduce pressures on the natural resources in wetlands by adding value to enhance poverty eradication;vii)establish financial incentives or investments such as micro-credit schemes including revolving funds and seed funding, especially in partnership with the private sector, that improve wetland management and contribute to tangible poverty eradication in the short and medium term, with the aim of promoting self-sufficiency and equitable benefit sharing in the long term;viii)encourage the introduction of payments for ecosystem services as a means to raise funds for poverty eradication programmes, including through avoided deforestation and avoided wetland degradation, as well as through private sector partnerships for access and benefit sharing;ix)consider wetland services as economic goods so that their use may be included in tax-based economic mechanisms such as user pays, and so that these contribute to national poverty eradication programmes and investment in sustainable wetland management;x)recognize the importance of identifying existing marketing networks and ways to access these before introducing any new financial incentives or investments for income-generating activities that may contribute to poverty eradication in wetlands; andxi)take measures to safeguard peoples’ livelihoods derived from wetlands in areas where mining and other extractive industries are taking place, or are likely to take place, including in the decommissioning phases of the extractive activities, in relation to the implementation of Resolution X.26 on Wetlands and extractive industries;12.CALLS UPON development banks and other donors to support the implementation of this Resolution by Contracting Parties, including through supporting capacity-building for governments, establishing cross-sectoral approaches to addressing poverty eradication in wetlands, and encouraging climate-related investment programmes.