A global webinar on Wetlands and Disaster Risk Reduction was organised on December 15, 2022 with a special focus on the Asia Pacific region by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in collaboration with Ramsar Regional Center East Asia (RRC-EA), RAMSAR Secretariat and Wetland International South Asia.
The main objective of the webinar was to highlight the importance of healthy wetlands in buffering and coping with the disaster risks together with integrating Eco-DRR principles in the wetland management plans.
The key speakers in the webinar were Dr Max Finlayson, Professor Charles Sturt University, Australia, Dr Ritesh Kumar, Director Wetlands International South Asia, Dr. Annadel Cabanban, Wetlands International – Philippines, Dr. Missaka Hettiarachchi, Adjunct Associate Professor, James Cook University, Australia. Marisol Estrella, DRR Programme Manager, UNEP gave the opening remarks while Norman Ramirez from Ramsar Regional Center East Asia (RRC-EA) moderated the webinar.
Dr Ritesh Kumar, Director Wetlands international South Asia was one of the speakers at the event. While highlighting the ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction (Eco-DRR) learnings from India, he emphasized on how loss of wetlands has manifested in increased vulnerability and disaster related damage and loss in India. He stated that Disaster risk assessment should be a part of wetlands management and instead of individual wetlands the landscape scale processes should be included in the integrated management planning of the wetlands.
During the webinar, a guidebook on Wetlands and Disaster Risk Reduction: A Guide for Wetland Managers was also launched to support the implementation of Ramsar Resolution XII.13 and integrate Eco-DRR principles in the wetland management plans. The guidebook is jointly authored by the United Nations Environment Programme, Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, Ramsar Regional Center – East Asia and Wetlands International South Asia. To view/promote the Guidebook, please use the following link: bit.ly/3FTQxpn
The webinar recording will be posted at the PEDRR channel