Participants to the symposium on "Wetlands Matter: Valuing wetland ecosystems in a changing climate" underscored that wetland conservation, management and restoration offer essential and effective strategies for climate change mitigation and adaptation.
24 February 2011: Over 100 government representatives and international experts on wetland science, policy and management met for a one-day symposium on “Wetlands Matter: Valuing wetland ecosystems in a changing climate” in Edinburgh, UK, on 24 February 2011.
Organized and hosted by the Scottish Government, Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Scottish Natural Heritage and Wetlands International, the symposium produced a Communiqué linking their conclusions to some of the key evidence presented during the Symposium. Symposium participants underscored that wetland conservation, management and restoration offer essential and effective strategies for climate change mitigation and adaptation, particularly though the role of wetlands in regulating the water cycle. They further stressed the vulnerability of wetlands to change, and called for increased efforts to conserve and restore them in all countries.
The Communiqué contains a call to action addressed to governments, wetland specialists and relevant organizations (including the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), in setting its initial priorities), which suggests who the target audiences might be in each case. [The Communiqué]