Wetlands are ecosystems that provide habitats for a wide range of plants and animals and play a crucial role in maintaining the environment's health. They offer a range of environmental and economic benefits, acting as natural water purifiers, protecting habitats from storms, sequestering carbon, helping mitigate climate change's effects, and providing resources for food production and recreation activities.
The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands promotes global wetland conservation and enables signatory Amazon countries—Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Suriname—to designate sites of international importance. Wetlands are also key to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), offering opportunities for preservation, restoration, and sustainable use through their inclusion in updated National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs).
Given the importance of acting at both national and regional levels in the protection of wetlands, the Amazon Sustainable Landscapes regional project identified the need to assess the ecosystem services provided by wetlands, generating useful information for informed decision-making and the development of action plans at the national level including the NBSAPs of each country.
Conservation Strategy Fund (CSF), in partnership with the Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza (CATIE), will conduct a study to contribute to the Amazon Regional Initiative to promote the conservation, use and sustainable use of Amazon wetlands to prevent their loss and degradation and specifically with the Action Plan that the Amazon member countries have formulated.
In this regard, CSF will assess at least 3 ecosystem services provided by wetlands in the Amazon region (carbon sequestration, food provision, and ecotourism) and identify best practices and national and regional actions for the conservation and sustainable management of these ecosystems, including restoration aspects as relevant. The approach involves a multi-faceted strategy integrating mapping, economic valuation, participatory processes, management practices, and investment prioritization.
The project will work on achieving the following key objectives:
- Participatory assessment of ecosystem services in prioritized wetlands within the before mentioned participating seven countries .
- Update information on Amazon wetlands, including legislation and governance.
- Generate recommendations on the application of regional indicators to assess sustainable management of Amazon wetlands.
- Develop recommendations for promoting and strengthening a network of wetlands in the Amazon.
The ultimate goal of our analysis is to support decision-making for sustainable wetland management by providing stakeholders with evidence-based insights into wetlands' economic and ecological value. This project is possible with the support of the Amazon Sustainable Landscapes Program (ASL), led by the World Bank and funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), and implemented in partnership with the Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza (CATIE).
Photo Credit: Rocío Rodríguez Granados