Download Wetland restoration, adaptation and Ramsar Convention

Wetland restoration, adaptation and
Ramsar Convention guidance
Prof Nick Davidson
Deputy Secretary General, Ramsar Convention
Workshop: Adaptation options for wetlands in the Murray-Darling Basin
Canberra, ACT, 12-13 July 2010
What is “adaptation”?
• In relation to climate change,
“adaptation” can be considered in 2
ways:
– Socio-economic: People adapting to
living in environment changing because
of climate – and its consequences for
livelihoods, health and well-being
• Policies, strategies, mechanisms and support
for such adaptation
– Ecological: ecosystems and species
changing and adapting to a changing
climate
What is “adaptation”?
• Closely linked: ecosystems & services needed
by people to cope with a changing climate
• Ecosystem-based adaptation:
– maintenance and restoration of natural
ecosystems to reduce people’s/communities
vulnerability to climate change
– Conserve biodiversity and make ecosystems more
resistant and resilient to changing climate
– Continue to deliver ecosystem services to people
Wetlands & climate change adaptation – all about water
• Even bigger challenges for wise water &
wetland management with an
increasingly extreme and unpredictable
climate
• IPCC (2008): climate change effects felt
mainly through water
– Increasing drought and ‘too little’ water in
some basins
– ‘too much’ water (or at the ‘wrong’ time) in
others
– Increased variability in rainfall and water
Wetlands & climate change mitigation – all about carbon
• Many wetlands
sequester & store
significant carbon
• Degrading wetlands
releases carbon
• Degraded wetlands store
less carbon
• Avoided degradation &
restoration of wetlands
tools for climate
mitigation
– “Double-win” with
ecosystem-based
adaptation
Relative carbon storage per unit area
Ramsar’s Wise Use Toolkit: a framework for climate adaptation?
Ramsar implementation guidance:
• Since 1971, the Convention has
adopted a major suite of
implementation guidance for countries
– Most prepared by Scientific & Technical
Review Panel (STRP)
• Included in 17 Ramsar Wise Use
Handbooks (3rd edition, 2007)
• CD-ROM and Ramsar Website
www.ramsar.org
• 4th edition (including COP10
substantive new guidance) in
preparation – 2010/2011
Ramsar’s Wise Use Toolkit: a framework for climate adaptation?
Includes:
Conceptual framework for wise use
National Wetland Policies
Laws and institutions
Wetland management planning
Local communities’ and indigenous
people’s participation in management
– Coastal management
– Inventory, assessment and monitoring
– Wetland CEPA
–
–
–
–
–
Ramsar, wetlands & water since COP6 (1996)
• Since COP6: major suite of water-related
guidance (prepared by STRP)
• First operational tools for water and
ecosystems adopted by governments
globally
– Recognition that not only is water crucial
for wetlands, but also
– Wetlands crucial for water security
Ramsar’s water-related guidance covers:
– Integrated Framework for water-related guidance
– River basin management
– Water allocation and management for maintaining wetland
ecosystems
– Groundwater management
– Integrated Coastal Zone Management
– International cooperation (incl. shared water resources)
Ramsar’s Wise Use Toolkit: addressing ecological character change
• Includes:
– Assessing and reporting change in
ecological character
– Deleting or restricting boundaries of a
Ramsar site
– Designing restoration programmes
– Compensation and mitigation for wetland
loss
• COP10 (2008): “Framework for processes of
detecting, reporting and responding to change
in ecological character” (Resolution X.16)
Detecting, reporting and responding to change in ecological character
Detecting, reporting and responding to change in ecological character
Detecting, reporting and responding to change in ecological character
Detecting, reporting and responding to change in ecological character
Ramsar’s principles & guidelines for wetland restoration
• Set of general principles, guidelines
& feasibility issues:
– To aid planning and decision-making
for restoration
– “Restoration” used in broad sense,
covering both:
• Restoring to pre-disturbance ecological
character; and
• Rehabilitation to improve wetland
functions, but not necessarily to
pre-disturbance ecological character
Principles & guidelines for wetland restoration: feasibility issues
• Will there be environmental benefits?
• What is the cost-effectiveness – for a long-term sustainable
restoration?
• What options, advantages or disadvantages will the restored
area provide for local people and the region?
– What is the current ecological status?
– Will any important wetland features or wetland-dependent species be
lost or damages?
• What is the ecological potential of the project?
• What is the current land use status of the area?
• What are the main socio-economic constraints?
– Is there positive regional and local interest in achieving the restoration?
• What are the main technical constraints?
Principles & guidelines for wetland restoration
Process for identifying potential
restoration projects
Principles & guidelines for wetland restoration
Steps in undertaking a wetland
restoration
STRP current work: Avoid/Mitigate/Compensate framework
• Identifies requirements for wetland restoration in a wider
context
• Avoid impacts: maintain/protect/conserve the wetland from
impacts
• Mitigate impacts: if impacts cannot be avoided, mitigate onsite
– Incl. minimise, reduce or abate impacts and/or restore or
rehabilitate
• Compensate/offset impacts: if impacts remain after
mitigation (or mitigation not possible) responsible body
compensates or offsets by paying to maintain or to
restore/rehabilitate other wetlands (i.e. off-site)
STRP current work: Avoid/Mitigate/Compensate framework
STRP current work: Avoid/Mitigate/Compensate framework
STRP current work: Avoid/Mitigate/Compensate framework
Compensate
Avoid
Mitigate
(Restore)
STRP current work: Assessing utility of Restoration guidance
Key question: does the existing Ramsar restoration guidance (in its current
form) allow a potential user to deliver their wetland restoration
objectives?
Different wetland restoration scenarios:
• The ecological character of my wetland has become degraded, and I want to
restore it to its former character
• The ecological character of my wetland has become degraded, and I want to
rehabilitate it so that it can deliver more/greater ecosystem services
• A development planning proposal will, if permitted, destroy or damage part, or all,
of my designated Ramsar site. What restoration should be required so as to
mitigate and/or compensate for this loss?
• So as to mitigate the impacts of climate change, I want to restore my wetland so as
to increase its carbon storage capacity and so that I can achieve an offset through
carbon markets.
• I am invoking “urgent national interest” under Article 2.5 to permit loss of part/all
of my Ramsar site – what must I do in terms of wetland restoration as mitigation of
and compensation for this action?
STRP current work: Assessing utility of Restoration guidance
... More restoration scenarios:
• I need to compile a national inventory of wetlands
with the potential for restoration
• I need to identify sites that are a priority for restoring
• I’ve embarked on a mitigation/restoration initiative,
what should I be doing to monitor its effectiveness and
if necessary to take corrective action if it appears likely
to fail to meet any of its objectives?
• I want to improve the health of local human
communities through improving and restoring the
health of their local wetland to reduce waterborne
disease risk
• I want to create a new wetland for one of many
reasons e.g. water purification, poverty reduction or
local economic growth
• I want to restore a wetland to increase its resilience
to climate change, to support people’s adaptation
STRP current work: Assessing utility of Restoration guidance
STRP current work: Assessing utility of Restoration guidance
• Initial assessment of two categories of potential
guidance user:
– Mid-level government official in a statutory agency
• Good understanding of national policies and
objectives, but
• Little ‘hands-on’ experience of doing a restoration
– Expert in practical wetland restoration design &
implementation
• Not aware of the national scale policies and
frameworks
• Range of different restoration purposes, and example
wetland types
• 4 categories of guidance utility: from Very Useful to Not
Useful
STRP current work: Assessing utility of Restoration guidance
Mid-level
government official
STRP current work: Assessing utility of Restoration guidance
Expert wetland
restoration
practitioner
STRP current work: Assessing utility of Restoration guidance
• Some initial conclusions:
– Useful as generic approach to wetland restoration, but
– Not targeted at specific types of end user – affects utility
– More useful to mid-level officials than restoration practitioners
• & recommendations:
– Links to other relevant Ramsar guidelines need to be made
– Add explanation of uses of restoration as a response option
– Identify links to other good quality restoration guidance e.g. on
specific wetland types (a “guide to the guidance”), and include more
case study examples
– Define end-user needs better
– Improve guidance on prioritising restoration in national policy context
– Further evaluate current guidance with a wider range of end-users
Restoration as a climate adaptation option
• Ramsar guidance not specifically designed for climate adaptation
• Is current Ramsar guidance and approach useful?
• What else is need to guide planning and implementing restoration for
climate adaptation?
• What specific issues need to be taken into account in designing and
achieving wetland restoration as tool for climate adaptation?
STRP: welcome advice/ideas from the workshop ...
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