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Wetlands for Water and Life
Expertise
Global Goal 1: Information about the status and trends of wetlands, their biodiversity and priorities for action; Global Goal 2: Mainstreaming functions and values of wetlands into sustainable development plans and approaches; Global Goal 3: Integrated water resource management and coastal zone management; Improved conservation status of species, habitats and ecological networks.
Région
Globally, with an emphasis on poverty-environment connections in Africa, Latin America and South East Asia.
Raison de la participation
Wetlands International’s livelihoods projects try to prove that nature conservation and development efforts reinforce each other – they actually need each other in order to succeed. We want to share our lessons learned as well as our good and less successful practices with others. We also want to learn from others by participating in this network about their approaches, partners and solutions.
Contact
Main contact person: Alex Kaat (+ Tel. +31 318 660910) - www.wetlands.org
International Day of Biodiversity
A call for water security
Saturday 22 May is the International Day of Biodiversity. 2010 is the International Year of Biodiversity and the year that the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) will conclude that the aims to reduce biodiversity loss have not been achieved. According to Wetlands International, this crisis for biodiversity is directly connected to the global water crisis that is threatening our planet.
Increasing global water stress in the poorest regions
Some 1.1 billion people that lack access to water and 2.6 billion that lack adequate sanitation services. Population growth alone will push a projected population of 2.1 billion, into water-short categories within the next 30 years. By the year 2025, 48 countries will be affected by water stress or scarcity - affecting around 35% of the projected global population in that year. Poverty worsens the situation as access to water is often an economical issue. Water stress in turn is increasing poverty. The use of fresh water is increasing every day. So are the conflicts between people, villages and even countries over access to water.
Direct result of the loss of nature
In many regions water stress is a direct result of the loss and degradation of natural areas; especially wetlands like marshes and lakes. In a healthy state these areas are still the source of water for the majority of the world's people, vital for a range of services such as drinking water, food and transport. This role is however not very well recognised and seldom taken into account; loss of biodiversity and of wetlands is often seen as 'just' a problem of conserving nature; not a threat to people's livelihoods.
Many development plans focus on developing infrastructure to increase access to water and sanitation systems, without considering the sustainability of the ecosystems supplying the water or the impacts of waste in downstream environments. Coordinated action is needed between sectors to ensure real water security.