The challenge
Many NGOs working with the Ramsar Convention had, until 2008, little opportunity to engage in the Ramsar Conference of the Parties (CoP), or for their actions be recognised by Ramsar’s formal process. In 2010 WWT offered to chair a newly formed network, the World Wetland Network (WWN).
What we are doing
WWN is now chaired by Emirates Nature with WWT acting as deputy chair, secretary and regional representative. WWN works to engage and support NGOs during the three-yearly Ramsar COP, including a Pre-COP meeting, opening and closing statements of civil society groups, and supporting the coordinated influencing of draft resolutions.
WWN also ran three rounds of Wetland Globe awards, identifying both good and bad practice in wetland management. We gave awards to wetlands that stood out in either a good or bad way. These were very successful in supporting local active civil society groups despite a mixed reception by national governments.
Key achievements
- Raised awareness of Civil Society achievements in delivering wetland conservation, particularly within the Ramsar Convention
- Supported local citizen science groups to deliver campaigns and tangible wetland conservation outputs
- Initiating the Wetland Globe Awards
- Bringing wetland NGOs to Ramsar COPs and coordinating their input
- Maintaining global and regional WWN committee activities
- Carried out global citizen science survey (2017 and 2020) with WWT and the Society of Wetland Scientists