As the 14th assembly of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (COP14) is set to open on Saturday, Musonda Mumba, secretary general of the Ramsar Convention, said Thursday that China plays a role in safeguarding and restoring these important ecosystems.
“What we have noticed with the Chinese government is certainly exciting because there is a movement and an expansion of legislation. They have ensured that more than 50 percent of wetlands in China are protected in one way or another, whether by covering a national park or a network park,” Mumba told Xinhua in a video interview.
The assembly will take place from November five to thirteen, with its headquarters in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, official headquarters of COP14, and a parallel consultation in Geneva, Switzerland, in physical and online format.
Wetlands are among the most varied and productive ecosystems because they provide an essential resource and supply all our new water. According to the Convention, about 85% has been lost compared to the year 1700.
“Lake Chad, for example, is a lake shared between Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad, the country itself. This lake is less than 10% and is a Ramsar site. It is also a path for bird species. Indigenous peoples. . . . they have depended on those wetland ecosystems for medicine, food, fish, but also for the microclimate of this region,” Mumbai said.
“Our villages are the spaces where more than 50% of the world’s population will live until 2050. This means that we will live in concrete jungles or have rapid infrastructure that will also build the heating of the villages,” Mumbai said.
“What wetlands do as a component of the ecosystem matrix and that are valued at more than $47 trillion (U. S. )UU), is the cooling effect. We can see that having wetlands in cities provides a cooling mechanism, but also at the same time, a building on biodiversity and green spaces. “
“That’s why this COP is vital and why I think China is pushing for action and calling on all contracting parties to the conference to act. “
The Convention entered into force for China on 31 July 1992. Lately, China has 64 sites designated as “wetlands of importance” (Ramsar sites).
With thirteen cities, China now has the largest number of wetland cities in the world and the country has taken various measures for wetlands, adding the sale of wetland legislation, implementing wetland recovery and implementation programs, designating wetlands of foreign importance, and conducting wetland studies.
“I’m starting to think that, when other contracting parties see this leadership, it’s important why we deserve to invest in those ecosystems and why it’s important to make sure those ecosystems are protected, because the policy also applies to climate and biodiversity substitution,” Mumbai said. Said.
The Convention on Wetlands followed on February 2, 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramsar, on the shores of the Caspian Sea.
With 172 contracting parties to date, the intergovernmental treaty provides a framework for national action and external cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources.
Mumba under pressure that strengthening foreign cooperation is addressing those issues important to our planet.
“We met for the first time after the pandemic started. So we gather now to take a look at the state of wetlands and the fate of wetlands, and why wetlands are vital and why they are critical to our collective livelihood as humans on this planet. ,” she said.
COP14 will take place while the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27) will take place from 6 to 18 November at Sharm el-Sheikh, an Egyptian hotel on the Red Sea.
The 14th COP assembly is “consecutive to COP27 on climate, and then, in all likelihood, to COP on biodiversity. What does this mean? It also means that verbal exchange on wetlands is positioning itself as a component of verbal exchanges on climate and biodiversity, making it seem global that everything is interconnected,” Mumba said.
“We are approaching the last five years before the end of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). All of this fits very obviously into the legislative and regulatory frameworks,” Mumbai said.
“SDG 17 is the purpose of collaboration and stakeholders. We cannot do it as a Convention on Wetlands, we have to do it in collaboration with everyone, youth, indigenous peoples, women, politicians, scientists, everyone is part of this adventure. to make those spaces much bigger for us and for nature. “