The 14th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (COP14) is taking place in Wuhan, China, at East Lake International Conference Centre (ELICC) and in Geneva, Switzerland, at the International Conference Centre Geneva (CICG) from November 5 to 13,2022.
On November 8, a side event on ‘Regional Collaboration for Wetlands Wise Use in South Asia’ was organised in Geneva by Wetlands International South Asia in collaboration with Ramsar Regional Center East Asia (RRCEA), International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and GIZ-India. The event was attended by Ramsar Focal Points from India, Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, along with a number of international and national organizations.
Delivering the keynote address Dr Siddharth Kaul, President Wetlands International South Asia sought collaboration with the region on wetlands conservation and sustainable management. He said that such an enterprise cannot be led by a single country or an institution but can only prosper through shared leadership.
Dr Ritesh Kumar, Director Wetlands International South Asia emphasised the need to invigorate this dialogue on regional collaboration towards the establishment of a mechanism such as a Ramsar Regional Initiative for South Asia which would ensure that issues and challenges specific to the region are brought out and lessons and experiences shared.
The national focal points expressed their concurrence for establishing such a regional platform which could assist the wetlands managers and stakeholders in developing capabilities for integrated management, provide the required knowledge base for wetlands conservation, and also bring on-board region-specific models for intersectoral collaboration.
IWMI, RRCEA, WWF India and GIZ-India offered support to development of such an initiative, and welcomed the contracting parties willingness towards regional collaboration.