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Journalof InternationalWildlife Law & Policy, 14:176-198, 2011
Copyright D Taylor & FrancisGroup, LLC
Routledge
Taylor& Francis Group
ISSN: 1388-0292 print/ 1548-1476 online
DOI: 10.1080/13880292.2011.626704

The Ramsar Convention

and Ecosystem-Based Approaches
to the Wise Use and Sustainable
Development of Wetlands
C. MAX FINLAYSON
NICK DAVIDSON
DAVE PRITCHARD'
G. RANDY MILTON4
HEATHER MACKAY'

1. INTRODUCTION
In the context of continuing, and probably increasing, pressure on and loss of
wetland resources and their capacity to deliver benefits to people around the
world,' we describe the development and evolution of the concept of "wise
use of wetlands," which was formally introduced with the text of the Ram-
sar Convention on Wetlands four decades ago.' Since then, the Convention
has supported and promoted the "wise use of wetlands" as the fundamen-
tal basis for efforts to stop and reverse the loss and degradation of wet-
lands worldwide.! Contracting parties to the Convention commit themselves

Institute for Land, Water and Society, Charles Sturt University, P.O. Box 789, Albury, NSW 2640,
Australia. E-mail: [email protected]).
2 Ramsar Convention Secretariat, Rue Mauverney 28, 1196 Gland, Switzerland.
Ramsar Convention Scientific and Technical Review Panel ([email protected]).
4 Department of Natural Resources, Kentville, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Chair, Ramsar Convention Scientific and Technical Review Panel ([email protected]).

'MILuNNIUM Ecosys n:M Assissmi;NT, EcosYSTEMS AND HUMAN WELL- IIIING: SYNTHISIS (2005); SLCRETARIA
OF TH; CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAi DivbRSITY, GLOBAL BIoDIviRsrrY OUTLOOK 3 (2010), available at
http://www.cbd.int/doc/publications/gbo/gbo3-final-en.pdf (last visited 26 October 2011).
'Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat, 2 February 1971,
T.I.A.S. No. 11084,996 U.N.T.S. 245 [hereinafter Ramsar Convention on Wetlands]; G.V.T. MAITHEWS,
THi: RAMSAR CONVINTrION ON WrITLANos: ITs HISTORY AND DIviitoIrMENT (Erika Luthi ed., 1993), avail-
able at http://www.ramsar.org/cdalen/ramsar-pubs-books-ramsar-convention-on-21313/main/ramsar/1-
30-101^21313.4000.0.#note (last visited 26 October 2011).
The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, 9th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to
the Convention on Wetlands, Kampala, Uganda, 8-15 Nov. 2005, Res. IX. I Annex A: A Conceptual

176
RAMSAR CONVENTION, ECOSYSTEM-BASED APPROACHES 177

to include wetland conservation in their national land and resource-use plan-

ning and to formulate and implement this planning so as to promote, as far as
possible, the wise use of wetlands in their territory. The adopted mission of the
Convention reflects the importance placed on wise use: "the conservation and
wise use of all wetlands through local and national actions and international
cooperation, as a contribution towards achieving sustainable development
throughout the world."'
Wise use is the longest-established example among intergovernmental
processes of the implementation of what have become more recently to be
known as ecosystem approaches for the conservation and sustainable devel-
opment of natural resources-an ecosystem approach being a strategy for the
integrated management of land, water, and biological resources that promotes
conservation and sustainable use in an equitable way." As with other ecosys-
tem approaches, such as that subsequently adopted by the CBD in COP5,
Decision V/6," the wise use approach places people's well-being at the cen-
tre of the decision-making processes. In doing this, the wise use approach
identifies the critical linkages that exist between people and the sustainable
development of natural resources. It encourages community engagement and
transparency in negotiating trade-offs and determining equitable outcomes for
conservation."
The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA)1," 4 highlighted the extent
of ecosystem degradation globally and recommended an increased emphasis
on integrated approaches for ecosystem management, including, where

Framework for the Wise Use of Wetlands and the Maintenance of Their Ecological Character, avail-
able at http://www.ramsar.org/pdf/key-guide-framework-wiseuse-e.pdf (last visited 26 October 2011).
[hereinafter Ramsar, Res. IX.1 Annex A]; RAMSAR CONVENTION SEcR rARiAr, THi RAMSAR CONVENTION
MANUAL: A GUIDE TO THE CONVENTION ON WFiTLANDS (RAMSAR, IRAN, 1971) 114 (4th ed. 2006), avail-
able at http://www.ramsar.org/cda/en/ramsar-pubs-manual/main/ramsar/1-30-35-4000.0 (last visited 26
October 2011). [hereinafter RAMSAR CONvINIoN MANUAL]; RAMSAR CONVEN11ON SicRIARIAI, RAMSAR
HANDBOOKS FOR THIL WIsE USE OFWIon.ANi)s, HANDBOOK 1,CONCEIS ANi) APPROACHES FOR THI WIsi USE OF
WET.ANDS (David Pritchard ed., 4th ed. 2010), available at http://www.ramsar.org/pdf/lib/hbk4-01.pdf
(last visited 26 October 2011). [hereinafter WisE UsE OF WiiLANI)s.
'The Ramsar Convention and Its Mission, THE RAMSAR CONVENTION ON Wli.ANDs, http://www.
ramsar.org/cda/en/ramsar-about-mission/main/ramsar/1-36-53-4000-0 (last visited 12 August 2011).
'Giu. SHEPHERD, THE EcosYSTEM AP'ROACH: FivE Snies -o IMPIMINTAIrION 30 (2004).
"UNEP/CBD, Fifth Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Convention on Bi-
ological Diversity, Nairobi, Kenya, 15-26 May 2000, Dec. V/6: Ecosystem Approach, U.N. Doc
UNEP/CBD/COP/DEC/V/6 (16 May 2000), available at http://www.cbd.int/decision/cop/?id=7148
[hereinafter UNEP/CBD, Dec. V/6]. (last visited 26 October 2011).
12Ramsar, Res. IX. I Annex A, supra note 8.
3 MI.LENNIUM EcosysnM AssissMiNI, supra note 6.
14C. MAX FINLAYSON ET AL., EcosysnoM SERvicis ANi) HUMAN WiiI.-BINO: WAER AND WETLANDs SYNTHESIS
(2005).
178 FINLAYSON ET AL.

necessary, restoration of those ecosystems that had been lost or degraded."

This was recognized as being particularly important for wetlands given the
extent of the past loss and degradation of wetland ecosystems and their ecosys-
tem services."
As a contribution to the ongoing development and implementation of
integrated approaches for natural resource management, we describe the wise
use approach of the Ramsar Convention and how it relates to ecosystem and
sustainable use approaches of the CBD. We also describe how the MA's
conceptual framework for ecosystems and human well-being" forms the basis
for a framework for wise use and the implementation of wise use guidance
under the Ramsar Convention. This framework provides a structured approach
for considering the wise use of wetlands through the explicit links that exist
between wetland ecosystem services, drivers of change to ecosystems and
their services, and human well-being and poverty reduction."

2. THE RAMSAR CONVENTION

The "Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, especially as wa-
terfowl habitat," known popularly as the Convention on Wetlands or the Ram-
sar Convention, is the intergovernmental treaty that provides a framework for
local and national action and international cooperation for the conservation
and wise use of wetlands, including wetland resources and the benefits people
derive from them. The text of the Convention was signed by representatives
of 18 governments in the Iranian city of Ramsar on 2 February 1971, after
being negotiated through the 1960s by governments and non-governmental
organizations concerned with the increasing loss and degradation of wetlands
and impacts on them." The Convention came into force in December 1975
after seven countries had signed, acceded to, or ratified the Convention. It was
the first of the modern global multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs)
and the first to make an explicit link between conservation and the sustainable
use of natural resources.
The negotiations that led to the Convention were initially directed to-
wards establishing a mechanism for the conservation of waterfowl through

' K. Brown et al., Integrated Responses, in 3 ECOSYSTEMS AND HUMAN WELL-BEING: POLICY RESPONSES:
FINDINGS OF THE RESPONSES WORKING GROUP OF THE MILLENNIUM EcosysThM ASSESSMENT 425-65 (K.
Chopra et al., eds., 2005).
6
' MILLENNIUM EcosysTEM ASSESSMENT, supra note 6.
7
JoSEPH ALCAMO 1T AL., MILLENNIUM ECOSYSTEM ASSESSMENT1, ECOSYSTEMS AND HUMAN WELL-BEING: A
FRAMEWORK FOR AssESSMENT (2003).
8 Ramsar, Res. IX.1 Annex A, supra note 8.
"Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, supra note 7, T.I.A.S. No. 11084, 996 U.N.T.S. 245.
RAMSAR CONVENTION, EcOSYSTEM-BASED APPROACHES 179

the creation of an international network of wetland refuges, but as the ne-

gotiations proceeded, the conservation and wise use of wetlands became
increasingly recognised as the key issue that needed addressing. This repre-
sented a major shift away from the protectionist or preservationist approaches
that had dominated wetland conservation up to that time.20 It also broad-
ened the scope of the Convention and provided a strong basis for inputs
from a complex array of local through to global institutions and organisa-
tions not traditionally linked directly with wetland conservation (see Fig-
ure 1). From the outset, the Ramsar Convention recognised that engage-
ment with multiple players and institutions was a prerequisite for achiev-
ing the wise use of wetlands and has taken active steps to ensure that ef-
fective and ongoing engagement occurred,2 1 including the appointment of
five global non-governmental organisations as international partners to the
Convention.22
The Ramsar text was both innovative and forward-thinking in its recogni-
tion that stemming the loss and degradation of wetlands needed to incorporate
both the link between people and wetland ecosystems and the key role of wet-
lands in the global hydrological cycle. The Ramsar text specifically recognized
"the interdependence of man and his environment," "that wetlands constitute a
resource of great economic, cultural, scientific, and recreational value, the loss
of which would be irreparable," and "the fundamental ecological functions of
wetlands as regulators of water regimes."" Implicit in the Convention's ap-
proach for the delivery of "wise use" is the need for land/waterscape-scale and
ecosystem-based approaches to decision-making and management. This also
implies that managing wetlands to support basin-scale water management and
delivery is an essential part of wetland conservation and wise use-a view that
was not widely held in conservation circles when the text of the Convention
was agreed.
The inclusive scope of the Convention is also demonstrated by the broad
approach used in its definition of wetlands as:

areas of marsh, fen, peatland or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or

temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including

20 MAIrH.ws, supra note 7; RAMSAR CONVENTION MANUAL, supra note 8; see also Dilys Roe, The Origins
and Evolution of the Conservation-PovertyDebate: A Review of Key Literature, Events and Policy
Processes,42 ORYx, 491-503 (2008).
21 Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, supra note 7, T.I.A.S. No. 11084, 996 U.N.T.S. 245; MArHEWS,
supra note 7; RAMSAR CONVENTION SECRETARIA; RAMSAR HANDBOOKS FOR THE WISE USE OF WETLANDS,
HANDBOOK 7, PARTICIPATORY SKILLS: ESTABLISHING AND STRENGTHENING LOCAL COMMUNITIES' AND INDIGENOUS
PEOPLE'S PARTICIPAION IN THE MANAGEMENT OF WETLANDS (David Pritchard ed., 4th ed. 2010), available
at http://www.ramsar.org/pdf/lib/hbk4-07.pdf (last visited 26 October 2011).
22
The five non-governmental organizations are: BirdLife International, International Water Management
Institute (IWMI), IUCN, Wetlands International, and WWF.
23 Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, supra note 7, T.I.A.S. No. 11084, 996 U.N.T.S. 245.
180 FINLAYSON ET AL.

FIGURE 1. An illustration of the complexity of the social, policy, and institutional linkages
that govern ecosystem management and influence necessary trade-offs in relation to
wetland conservation and wise use. 24 The names of some organisations have changed since
this illustration was prepared.

Rai:ional goermen an~d

Unjiiversities
1-lydi.logy * Zoology * national inistin
Limnology * Ornithology* Gloy
Pedology * Ecology * Agricultuto stry of Public Woik

Ministry of Agricultuir
intenational symposl a * Fr itry Dpamont

* Envir rfllonit tion on

National -nvironmnnntal *HydJrauicp Moniltoring Div ito
f eY~ rgan zion 1

Fish,;rs THE WETLAND G..v.-rnpm-rrnt iti.

P itral sts
Ornithologists
Industialists Land
* Urban dwellers Ministriy f rnvironment
*Natur C r atlln Sc on
Ifltuential
Hunting and people
i isldflowsering and
committe. ss

National WWF
nolnlntrn~ntioncd
gomf 4r talI
National organizations,
Scouts and nongovernmenta
guides organizations WlFntrnation t
rd Cultural Medi a
protatlon / eritagA Prs fo:r Bird Preservation
Televi sin
Ulnited No ol.ns/* RaId1o Viorld Cons'@rvation Union
* Foreign madla
lnited Nations Internatonal
Ass.c,4iation
Environment internatnal of Hvdrological cien-s
Progiamme governmental
World Bank organizations National nongovernnmental
and other
olanizations in othr counits
international
finanial I
C Inron
National and international
ad *environmental consultants
United UMan
Natios ' . Man and
Educational. Rsere
Scientific. and Reservcs
C.ultural Wit Id Heritage
Organization . I Wate amgineering
* coansultants

European Economic Community

Directorat-General for Research Foriign g-enrntns
* European linvtnent Bank 1and.
ambassadors
Directorate Genral for Environmant
Directorate Geneini for Devel.opmnt,

Schools and children ) Zoos Invislble links by history, marriage, family, and the like

Souti- H III 1,1-a

areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six
metres.25

24 Malin Falkenmark et al., Agriculture, water and ecosystems: Avoiding the costs of going too far, in
WNTER FOR FoOD, WATER FOR Lii: A CoMPRIHENslvr. AssissMENT O WXIHR MANAGEMENT IN AGRICul:rURI.
233-77 (David Molden ed., 2007).
25 Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, supra note 7, T.I.A.S. No. 11084, 996 U.N.T.S.
245 at 246-247.
RAMSAR CONVENTION, ECOSYSTEM-BASED APPROACHES 181

Thus, implementation of the Convention covers all wetlands, including rivers,

from the mountains to the sea and the coastal zone-but not deep oceans.
This definition remains the only established global standard but is far broader
than some national systems and has attracted much debate.2' The definition is
accompanied by a wetland classification, divided into three broad categories
(marine and coastal, inland, and artificial), of 42 wetland types found globally.
The classification was developed in the 1990s specifically for the purpose of
the designation of Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar sites-see
below). The classification is, however, now also being used for other purposes
including ongoing wetland inventory and bioregional analyses of wetland
distribution and management.27
As of December 2010, there were 160 contracting parties, or member
states, whose governments have committed to implement the Convention
through "three pillars" of activity:

to designate suitable wetlands for the List of Wetlands of International Importance

("Ramsar List") and ensure their effective management; to work towards the wise use
of all their wetlands through national land [and resource] use planning, appropriate
policies and legislation, management actions, and public education [and awareness];
and to cooperate internationally concerning [inter alia] transboundary wetlands,
shared wetland systems, shared species, and development projects that may affect
wetlands.28

Joining the Convention entails an endorsement of, and commitment to,

these pillars and facilitates the development at national level of policies and
actions, including legislation, that help nations to make the best possible use
of their wetlands in their quest for sustainable development.
The flagship of the Convention is the Ramsar List of Wetlands of Interna-
tional Importance, or Ramsar sites, which in December 2010 contained 1,910
wetlands (Figure 2) covering almost 1.9 million km 2 worldwide or approx-
imately 14 percent of the known area of wetlands globally. 29 On joining the
Convention, each contracting party is required to designate for the List at least
one wetland within its territory and subsequently to apply the Convention's
adopted Strategic Framework and Guidelinesfor the Further Development
of the List of Wetlands of InternationalImportance to establish a coherent

26
See C. M. FINLAYSON &ARNOUD VAN IHiR VALK, CLASSIFICATION AND INVENroRY OF THE WORLD'S WEI1ANDS
1-192 (1995).
27C. M. Finlayson et al., Global Wetland Inventory-Current Status and Future Priorities, 50 MARINI &
FRESHWAIlR Rt-s. 717, 717-27 (1999); L.-M. Rebelo et al., Remote Sensing and GISfor Wetland Inventory,
Mapping, and Change Analysis, 90 J. ENvrIt. McMr. 2144, 2144-53 (2009); Mark D. Spalding et al.,
Marine Ecoregions of the World: A Bioregionalization of Coastal and Shelf Areas, 57 BIoscIENCi 573,
573-583 (2007).
28 The Ramsar Convention and its Mission, supra note 9.
2
'Finlayson et al., supra note 27.
182 FINLAYSON ET AL.

FIGURE 2. The distribution of wetlands (Ramsar Sites) listed as internationally important under
the Ramsar Convention.30 The pie chart shows the percentage area distribution by Ramsar
region of Ramsar Sites designated as at December 2010.

-Q
.,-~ .- ~.
K ~

Oceania
181%

North
Americ;
5% I

Neotropics
12%

1WAsia 6%,

and comprehensive network of such sites qualifying for designation against a

global standard of nine criteria for site selection.3 1 Although the largest number
of such sites is in Europe, these are generally small in area, with the largest
designated wetland areas being in Africa and the Neotropics.3 2
Contracting parties are also required to maintain the ecological char-
acter of sites that they include on the List as set out in Article 3.1 of the

30 L.-M. Rebelo et al., The Ramsar List of Wetlands of InternationalImportance: Under-representation

of site networks and the applicationof biogeographicalregionalisationschemes, in RAMSAR TECHNICAL
REPORTS (forthcoming).
* RAMSAR CONVENTION SECRETARIAT, RAMSAR HANDBOOKS FOR THE WisE USE OF WETLANDS, HANDBOOK 17,
DESIGNATING RAMSAR SIms: STRAfEGIC FRAMEWORK AND GUIDELINES FOR THIEFUTURE DEVELOPMENT OF
THE LisT OF WETLANDS OF INTERNATIONAL IMPORTANCE (David Pritchard ed., 4th ed. 2010), available at
http://www.ramsar.org/pdf/lib/hbk4-17.pdf (last visited 26 October 2011).
"See WETLANDS INT'L, Total Designated Ramsar Site Area December 2010, RAMSAR SIfES INFORMATION
SERVICE, http://ramsar.wetlands.org/DesignatedRamsarsitearealtabid/779/language/en-US/Default.aspx
(last visited 26 October 2011).
RAMSAR CONVENTION, ECOSYSTEM-BASED APPROACHES 183

Convention text, which also introduced the concept of the "wise use of
wetlands":
The Contracting Parties shall formulate and implement their planning [i.e., national-
scale planning] so as to promote the conservation of the wetlands included in the
List [of Wetlands of International Importance], and as far as possible the wise use of
wetlands in their territory."
Article 3.1 makes it clear that the wise use provisions of the Convention
apply to all wetlands, both Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar
sites) and other wetlands.

3. THE WISE USE OF WETLANDS

Through the concept of wise use, the Ramsar Convention continues to em-
phasize that human use of wetlands on a sustainable basis is entirely compat-
ible with Ramsar principles and wetland conservation in general. However,
although the concept was included in the text of the Ramsar Convention in
1971, a definition of "wise use" was not provided at that time. It was, however,
under regular discussion in Convention processes, with the term being used
in a manner that was compatible with the subsequent use of the terms "sus-
tainable utilization" and "sustainable development."'
This was clear as early as the First Conference of the Contracting Par-
ties to the Convention (COPI, 1980), during which it was emphasized that
wise use involved the maintenance of the ecological character of the wet-
land, as a basis not only for nature conservation but also for sustainable
development." This was similar to the link made between conservation and
sustainable development at the same time in The World Conservation Strategy
(IUCN/UNEP/WWF 1980) which defined conservation as:

[T]he management of human use of the biosphere so that it may yield the greatest
sustainable benefit to present generations while maintaining its potential to meet the
needs and aspirations of future generations."

The wise use of wetlands concept was first defined at the Third Confer-
ence (COP3, 1987) of the Ramsar Convention as "their sustainable utilization

1 Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, supra note 7, T.I.A.S. No. 11084, 996 U.N.T.S. 245, at 247.
34
MArTHEWS, supra note 7.
" The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, 1st Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the
Convention on Wetlands, Cagliary, Italy, 24-29 November 1980, Recomm. 1.6: [Assessment of Wet-
land Values], available at http://www.ramsar.org/cdalen/ramsar-documents-recom-recommendation-1-
6/main/ramsar/1-3 1-110^23004-4000.0 (last visited 26 October 2011).
36 INT'L UNION FORCONSERVATION OF NATURE & NATURAL RESOURCES (IUCN) ET AL., WORLD CONSERVATION

STRATEGY: LIVING RESOURCE CONSERVATION 1FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 1-77 (1980), available at
http://data.iucn.org/dbtw-wpdledocs/WCS-004.pdf (last visited 26 October 2011).
184 FINLAYSON ET AL.

for the benefit of humankind in a way compatible with the maintenance

of the natural properties of the ecosystem." It further defined "sustainable
utilization" as "human use of a wetland so that it may yield the greatest con-
tinuous benefit to present generations while maintaining its potential to meet
the needs and aspirations of future generations."" In the same year, the UN
World Commission on Environment and Development defined "sustainable
development" in similar terms as "development that meets the needs of the
present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their
own needs."" This similarity in the definitions of sustainable utilization and
sustainable development led to a further clarification at the Ninth Ramsar Con-
ference of Contracting Parties (COP9, 2005) of what was meant by wise use
(see below).
The Fourth Conference (COP4, 1990) adopted initial guidelines for the
implementation of wise use, prompting the initiation of a wise use project,
funded by the government of the Netherlands. This culminated in the adoption
of additional wise use guidance at the Fifth Conference (COP5, 1993) and the
publication of principles and case studies. 9
The wise use guidelines emphasized the importance of contracting
parties:

1. Adopting national wetland policies, and undertaking a review of

their existing legislation and institutional arrangements to deal with
wetland matters (either as separate policy instruments or as part of
national environmental action plans, national biodiversity strategies,
or other national strategic planning);
2. Developing programmes of wetland inventory, monitoring, research,
training, education, and public awareness; and
3. Taking action at wetland sites, through the development of integrated
management plans covering every aspect of the wetlands and their
relationships with their catchments.

The guidelines also emphasized the multiple benefits and values of wet-
lands, including sediment and erosion control; flood control; maintenance
of water quality and abatement of pollution; maintenance of surface and

" The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, The 3rd Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties
to the Convention on Wetlands, Regina, Can., 27-June 5 May 1987, Recomm. 3.3: Wise Use of Wet-
lands, at annex, availableat http://www.ramsar.org/cda/en/ramsar-documents-recom-recommendation-
3-3-wise/main/ramsar/1-31-110^230364000-0 (last visited 26 October 2011).
38
G. H. BRUNDTLAND & THE WORLD COMM'N ON ENv'T & Div., OUR COMMON FUTURE (1987).
39
WIsE USE PROJECT, RAMSAR CONVENTION BUREAU, TOWARDS TH WISE USE OF Wion ANIS (T. J.
Davis ed., 1998), available at http://www.ramsar.org/cda/en/ramsar-pubs-books-towards-wise-use-of-
21381/main/ramsar/1-30-101percent5E21381-4000-0#ednote (last visited 26 October 2011).
RAMSAR CONVENTION, ECOSYSTEM-BASED APPROACHES 185

underground water supply; support for fisheries, grazing and agriculture,

outdoor recreation and education for human society, and climatic stabil-
ity. At the Fifth Ramsar Conference of the Parties (Kushiro, Japan, 1993),
it was also made clear that wetlands should be considered within a catch-
ment or coastal zone context and not treated as isolated components of the
landscape.
The wise use guidelines and additional guidance documents were
ground-breaking in their time but have now largely been superseded by the
increasingly comprehensive suite of guidances on more specific aspects of
Ramsar implementation adopted by subsequent Conferences of the Parties.
This was recognised at the Ninth Conference (COP9, 2005), during which the
1990 and 1993 wise use guidelines were recognized as being superseded by
this more recent guidance, and through the adoption of a conceptual frame-
work for the wise use of wetlands and the maintenance of their ecological
character.40
As part of this wise use conceptual framework, the concept of wise use of
wetlands was updated and redefined as "the maintenance of their ecological
character, achieved through the implementation of ecosystem approaches,
within the context of sustainable development."'
The phrase "in the context of sustainable development" was included in
the definition to recognize that development could be facilitated in sustainable
ways but does not imply that development is, or should be, the objective
for every wetland. The original definition of "ecological character" treated
ecosystem services as separate from the ecological character of the wetland
and, rather, as being derived from the ecological components and processes
that characterised the wetland.
The Ninth Conference also redefined the ecological character of wet-
lands as "the combination of the ecosystem components, processes and bene-
fits/services that characterise the wetland at a given point in time"4 2 (Figure 3).
So, after almost 35 years of the Convention, its two key concepts of wise
use and ecological character of wetlands were clearly and formally linked.
This was a significant change that brought the definition into line with the
integrated concepts for ecosystem management being promoted through the
MA and acknowledged that Ramsar Parties recognized the MA's division of
ecosystem services into four categories4 (see Figure 3).
The most recent Strategic Plan of the Convention for 2009-2015,
adopted by COPl0 in 2008, outlines and reaffirms a range of actions and

") Ramsar, Res. IX. I Annex A, supra note 8.

41 Id.
42
Id.
4 Id.; FINLAYSON ET AL., supra note 14; ALCAMO ET AL., supra note 17.
186 FINLAYSON ET AL.

FIGURE 3. The three components of ecological character and the four categories
of ecosystem services

Supporting services
....... sg . .s. .............. * *.............

Provisioning Regulating Cultural

services services services

Ecosystem
services

Ecological Ecological
components processes

processes, including priority Key Result Areas, for contracting parties and
others to undertake so as to achieve the wise use of wetlands." These include:
1. Establishing national wetland policies and plans;
2. Reviewing and harmonizing the framework of laws and financial
instruments affecting wetlands;
3. Undertaking wetland inventory and assessment;
4. Integrating wetlands into the sustainable development process;
5. Ensuring public participation in wetland management and the main-
tenance of cultural values by local communities and indigenous
people;
6. Promoting communication, education and public awareness;
7. Increasing private sector involvement; and

" The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, The 10th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties
to the Convention on Wetlands, Changwon, S. Korea, 28 Oct.-4 Nov. 2008, Res. X.I: The Ramsar
StrategicPlan 2009-2015 17-20, availableat http://www.ramsar.org/pdf/key..strat-plan2009.e.pdf
[hereinafter Ramsar Strategic Plan 2009-2015].
RAMSAR CONVENTION, ECOSYSTEM-BASED APPROACHES 187

8. Harmonizing implementation of the Ramsar Convention with other

multilateral environmental agreements.
The Ramsar Secretariat in the Ramsar Toolkit of Handbooksfor the Wise
Use of Wetlands compiles thematically technical implementation guidance,
supporting many of these Strategic Plan actions. A fourth edition, incorporat-
ing guidance adopted up to and including COPl0 in 2008, was published in
2011,4 with a fourth edition incorporating the further and updated guidance
adopted at Ramsar COPl0 (2008) being published in 2010/2011 (Table 1).
4. THE ECOSYSTEM APPROACH
The wise use approach adopted by the Ramsar Convention is an example of
an ecosystem approach for integrated environmental management. Ecosystem
management emerged during the 1990s, particularly in North America, as an
approach to the management of natural resources. 6,47 Ecosystem approaches
4

have been developed as an integrated alternative to sectoral approaches and

specifically for promoting conservation and sustainable use in an equitable
way.48 They focus on managing environmental resources and human needs
across landscapes and trying to balance trade-offs for both human well-being
and ecosystem services and are often a response to a previous tendency to
manage for a single ecosystem service.
Examples of ecosystem approaches include integrated coastal zone man-
agement and integrated catchment management. Both are compatible with the
ecosystem approach adopted in 1995 by Decision 11/8 of the CBD at its Sec-
ond Conference of Parties as the primary framework of action to be taken
under the Convention and elaborated in 2000 by the adoption in Decision V/6
of principles and operational guidelines for the ecosystem approach.4 9
The CBD affirmed at its Seventh Conference (COP7, 2004) that its
ecosystem approach comprised a strategy for the integrated management of
land, water, and living resources, which promoted conservation and sustain-
able use in an equitable way.s0 Application of the ecosystem approach was

45
RAMSAR CONVENIION SECRETARIAl; RAMSAR HANDBOOKS FOR THE WISE USE OF WETLANDS (4th ed. 2010),
available at http://www.ramsar.org/cda/en/ramsar-pubs-handbooks-handbooks4-e/main/ramsar/1-30-
33A21323 4000-0 [hereinafter RAMSAR HANDBOOKS]. (last visited 26 October 2011).
R. Edward Grumbine, What Is Ecosystem Management?, 8 CONSERVATION Bio. 27, 28-29 (1994), avail-
able at http://www.pelagicos.net/MARS6920-spring2010/readings/Grumbine-1994.pdf (last visited 26
October 2011).
47 VOLKMAR HARJE ET AL., THE INTERNfIONAL DEBATE ON THF EcosysTEM APPROACH: CRITICAL REVIEW,
INTERNAHONAL Ac ORS, OBSTACLES AND CHALLENGES 80 (2003).
41 MILLENNIUM Ecosys EM ASSESSMENT, supra
note 6.
49UNEP/CBD, Dec. V/6, supra note 11; FINLAYSON ET AL., supra note 14.
5oUNEP/CBD, 7th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Convention on
Biological Diversity, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 9-20 Feb. 2004, Ecosystem Approach, UN Doc.
UNEP/CBD/COP/7Vll/11 1(22 Mar. 2006), available at http://www.cbd.int/decision/cop/?id=7748 (last
visited 26 October 2011).
188 FINLAYSON ET AL.

TABLE 1. Guidance available through the fourth edition of the Toolkit of Ramsar Wise Use
Handbooks5 and the relevant Resolutions adopted by the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar
Convention containing this guidance 52

Handbook
No. Title Content Resolution(s)
1. Wise use of Concepts and approaches for the IX.1; X.3
wetlands wise use of wetlands and the
maintenance of their
ecological character
2. National Wetland Developing and implementing VII.6
Policies National Wetland Policies
3. Laws and Reviewing laws and institutions VII.7
institutions to promote the conservation
and wise use of wetlands
4. Avian influenza and Guidance on control of and X.21
wetlands responses to highly
pathogenic avian influenza
5. Partnerships Key partnerships for the VII.3; X.11; X.12
implementation of the Ramsar
Convention
6. Wetland CEPA The Convention's programme X.8
on communication, education,
participation and awareness
(CEPA) 2009-2015
7. Participatory skills Establishing and strengthening VII.8
local communities' and
indigenous people's
participation in the
management of wetlands
8. Water-related An integrated framework for the IX.1
guidance Convention's water-related
guidance
9. River basin Integrating wetland conservation X.19
management and wise use into river basin
management
10. Water allocation Guidelines for the allocation and VII.1
and management management of water for
maintaining the ecological
functions of wetlands
(Continued on next page)

51 Id.
52 All resolutions are available in English, French, and Spanish at Resolutions of the Conference of the
ContractingParties:Decisions of the Conference of the ContractingParties,THE RAMSAR CONVENTION ON
WETLANDS, http://www.ramsar.org/cdalen/ramsar-documents-resol/main/ramsar/1-31-107-4000-0 (last
visited 26 October 2011).
RAMSAR CONVENTION, ECOSYSTEM-BASED APPROACHES 189

TABiL 1. Guidance available through the fourth edition of the Toolkit of Ramsar Wise Use
Handbooks and the relevant Resolutions adopted by the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar
Convention containing this guidance (Continued)

Handbook
No. Title Content Resolution(s)
II. Managing Guidelines for the management IX. I
groundwater of groundwater to maintain
wetland ecological character
12. Coastal Wetland issues in Integrated VII.21, VIII.4
management Coastal Zone Management
Handbook Title Content Resolution(s)
No.
13. Inventory, An integrated framework for IX.1; X.15; X.16
assessment, and wetland inventory,
monitoring assessment, and monitoring
14. Data and A framework for Ramsar data X.14
Information and information needs
needs
15. Wetland inventory A Ramsar framework for VIII.6; X.15
wetland inventory and
ecological character
description
16. Impact assessment Guidelines on X. 17
biodiversity-inclusive
environmental impact
assessment and strategic
environmental assessment
17. Designating Ramsar The Strategic Framework and Vill.10
sites guidelines for the future
development of the List of
Wetlands of International
Importance
18. Managing wetlands Frameworks for managing V.7, VI.1, VII.10, VIII.14,
Ramsar sites and other VIII.18, VIII. 19, IX.4
wetlands
19. Addressing change Addressing change in the V4, VI.1, VII.24, VIII.8,
in ecological ecological character of Vill.16, VIII.20,
character Ramsar sites and other VI.22, IX.6; X.16
wetlands
20. International Guidelines for international VIl.19; X.6
cooperation cooperation under the Ramsar
Convention on Wetlands
21. The Ramsar Goals, strategies, and X.1
Convention expectations for the Ramsar
Strategic Plan Convention's implementation
2009-2015 for the period 2009 to 2015
190 FINLAYSON ET AL.

TABLE 2. Principles of the ecosystem approach adopted by the Convention on Biological Diversity5 3

1. The objectives of management of land, water, and living resources are a matter of societal
choices.
2. Management should be decentralized to the lowest appropriate level.
3. Ecosystem managers should consider the effects (actual or potential) of their activities on
adjacent and other ecosystems.
4. After recognizing potential gains from management, there is a need to understand the
ecosystem in an economic context. Any ecosystem management program should:
a) reduce those market distortions that adversely affect biological diversity;
b) align incentives to promote sustainable use; and
c) internalize costs and benefits in the given ecosystem to the extent feasible.
5. Conservation of ecosystem structure and functioning, in order to maintain ecosystem
service, should be a priority target of the ecosystem approach.
6. Ecosystems must be managed within the limits to their functioning.
7. The ecosystem approach should be undertaken at the appropriate spatial and temporal
scales.
8. Recognizing the varying temporal scales and lag effects which characterize ecosystem
processes, objectives for ecosystem management should be set for the long term.
9. Management must recognize that change is inevitable.
10 The ecosystem approach should seek the appropriate balance between, and integration of,
conservation and use of biological diversity.
11. The ecosystem approach should consider all forms of relevant information including
scientific and indigenous and local knowledge, innovations, and practices.
12. The ecosystem approach should involve all relevant sectors of society and scientific
discipline.

seen as a way of reaching a balance between the objectives of the

Convention covering conservation, sustainable use, and the fair and equitable
sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources. The
ecosystem approach as adopted by the CBD places human needs at the centre
of biodiversity management based on the multiple functions that ecosystems
perform and the multiple uses that are made of these functions.
CBD's ecosystem approach comprises a set of guiding principles and
strategies (Table 2) rather than an applicable methodology. While this ap-
proach has been criticized by some for being too vague to be of practical
value, others have highlighted its flexibility.' Taking note of such criticisms,
the guiding principles have been grouped into five steps, each involving a
range of actions, to encourage discussion, planning, and step-by-step action,
as follows:"
1. Determine the main stakeholders, define the ecosystem area, and
develop the relationship between them.

93
The Convention on Biological Diversity, Principles, 5 June 1992, 1760 UNTS 79, 31 ILM 818, available
at http://www.cbd.int/ecosyster/principles.shtml (last visited 26 October 2011).
54
Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, supra note 7, T.I.A.S. No. 11084, 996 U.N.T.S. 245.
s SHEPHERD, supra note 10, at 3.
RAMSAR CONVENTION, ECOSYSTEM-BASED APPROACHES 191

2. Characterize the structure and function of the ecosystem, and set in

place mechanisms to manage and monitor it.
3. Identify the important economic issues that will affect the ecosystem
and its inhabitants.
4. Determine the likely impact of the ecosystem on adjacent ecosystems.
5. Decide long-term goals and flexible ways of reaching them.
The ecosystem approach principles adopted by the CBD are generally
applicable to other ecosystem approaches. Furthermore, these principles have
largely been addressed through the more detailed guidance for wise use devel-
oped and adopted by the Ramsar Convention. 6 In this sense, the approaches
of both Conventions can be seen as congruent and examples of the integrated
approaches for managing ecosystems recommended by the MA as necessary
to ensure sustainable and fair and equitable outcomes from environmental
management. 7
The definition of wise use adopted by the Ramsar Convention at the
Ninth Conference (COP9, 2005) explicitly linked wise use with ecosystem
approaches, including that adopted by the CBD, in recognition of the wide
acceptance of this ecosystem approach. While it may not have been articu-
lated as such, many of the management approaches adopted under the Ramsar
Convention concerned the application of mechanisms for the delivery of an
ecosystem approach to wetland wise use, most notably Integrated River Basin
Management (IRBM), Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM),
Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM), and Integrated Marine and
Coastal Area Management (IMCAM). These mechanisms provide for, and
encourage, a broad, cross-sectoral approach to achieving wise use and recog-
nise the importance of addressing the relationships between wetlands and
the broader policy and management practices for addressing both direct and
indirect drivers of change in wetlands."

5. LIMITATIONS OF THE ECOSYSTEM APPROACH

Brown et al." have highlighted some of the constraints with ecosystem ap-
proaches, notably the failure to consider specific areas, resources, or species
that may need a more targeted approach for their conservation. There are also
uncertainties and a lack of guidance about how to balance conservation and

56 RAMSAR HANDBOOKS, supra note 45.

MILLENNIUM EcosysTElM ASSESSMENT, supra note 6, at 39.
See Wisi Us oniWiTLANDS, supra note 8.
so Brown et al., supra note 15, at 458.
192 FINLAYSON ET AL.

sustainable use within the ecosystem approach and how to overcome diffi-
culties with establishing collaboration between stakeholders and negotiating
trade-offs between them in a fair and equitable manner.
There also remains uncertainty concerning the relationship between the
CBD's ecosystem approach and its Addis Ababa principles and guidelines
for sustainable use (adopted by CBD COP7 in 2004)," their appropriate spa-
tial scales for application, and their respective goals, which themselves are
not stated explicitly in the adopted CBD materials. Dickson" deduced that
the main goal of the ecosystem approach is the "conservation of ecosystem
structure and functioning, in order to maintain ecosystem services" (Princi-
ple 5) and that of sustainable use being "the sustainable use of biodiversity
components" (Section 2 of Addis Ababa principles and guidelines).
Given that the Addis Ababa principles indicate that sustainable use
should be "set within the context of the ecosystem approach," in CBD terms
sustainable use can be seen as one component tool for delivering the ecosys-
tem approach. Since, however, CBD defines biological diversity as including
ecosystems as well as species and populations, at the ecosystem scale the
ecosystem approach could conversely be applied within the framework of
sustainable use. Dickson62 suggests that implementing the CBD sustainable
use approach within the ecosystem approach framework works only when
applied to the species and population levels of biodiversity (i.e., not at the
ecosystem level). It may, however, also apply to the genetic level of biodi-
versity, in relation to the recently adopted Nagoya Protocol on "access and
benefit sharing" of genetic resources."
There is also lack of clarity concerning the relationship between "con-
servation" and "sustainable use" or "wise use." The World Conservation
Strategy' recognized conservation as the management of natural resource
utilization for sustainability. Ramsar COPI recognised management (mainte-
nance of ecological character) as the basis for both nature conservation and
sustainable development, while the CBD has the three objectives of conserva-
tion, sustainable use, and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits. Thus,

6 UNEP/CBD, 7th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Convention on Biological
Diversity, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 9-20 Feb. 2004, Dec. VII/12: Sustainable Use (Article 10), U.N.
Doc. UNEP/CBD/COP/DEC/Vll/12 (Apr. 13,2004), availableat http://www.cbd.int/doc/decisions/cop-
07/cop-07-dec- 12-en.pdf (last visited 26 October 2011).
61 Barney Dickson & Steve Edwards, IUCN, Comparing the Ecosystem Approach with Sustainable Use

(2004) (Paper prepared for CBD Expert Workshop on the Ecosystem Approach, Montreal, Canada, July
62
7-13, 2003).
id.
61 UNEP/CBD, 10th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the
Convention on Biological
Diversity, Nagoya, Japan 18-29 Oct. 2010, Dec. X/I: Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and
Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising From Their Utilization, UN Doc. UNEP/CBD/COP/DEC/X/1
(Oct. 29, 2010), available at http://www.cbd.int/doc/decisions/cop-10/cop-10-dec-01-en.pdf (last visited
26 October 2011).
* IUCN ET AL., supra note 36.
RAMSAR CONVENTION, ECOSYSTEM-BASED APPROACHES 193

it is not wholly clear for the implementation of an overarching ecosystem

approach whether: (a) conservation should be treated as a separate mech-
anism (e.g., through establishment and management of protected areas) to
sustainable or wise use, (b) conservation should be regarded as one of the
suite of mechanisms for achieving such use, or (c) conservation is best seen
as equating to sustainable use/wise use.

6. A FRAMEWORK FOR THE WISE USE OF WETLANDS

From the Ramsar Convention's inception, it has fully recognised and ad-
dressed the importance of wetlands to people and biodiversity and that main-
taining the ecological character of wetlands through an ecosystem approach is
critical to the continued provision of ecosystem services. The Convention also
recognised that maintaining the ecological character of wetland ecosystems
makes a vital contribution to sustainable development globally. The guidance
on wise use provided at the Fourth and Fifth Conferences (COP4, 1990 and
COP5, 1993) has largely been elaborated and expanded through the develop-
ment and adoption of an increasing range of policy and technical guidelines
in the Ramsar Toolkit (see Table 1). However, missing from the Ramsar
wise use toolkit was an overall conceptual framework for the application and
implementation of the wise use concept and guidelines.
As the conceptual framework for the MA"5 is built around the recogni-
tion that maintaining the health of ecosystems is compatible with the notion
that maintaining the ecological character of wetland ecosystems is essential
for people, it is seen as wholly consistent with the Ramsar concept of wise
use. Furthermore, as it provides a clear outline of how the indirect and direct
drivers of change to ecosystems interact and affect the capacity of an ecosys-
tem to continue to deliver ecosystem services to sustain human well-being
and achieve poverty reduction, it has been adopted by Ramsar parties as a
Framework for the Wise Use of Wetlands." The various guidelines for the
achievement of wise use (Table 1) have been mapped onto this MA concep-
tual framework (see Figure 4), which has also helped to identify where gaps
in the current suite of wise use guidance may exist.
Many of the wise use guidelines concern interventions that apply directly
to ecosystem services and/or sustaining the links between these services and
the ecological components and processes that characterize the wetland. These
include guidelines for describing and assessing the condition of the wetland.
Others, such as those concerning river basin management, water allocations
and management for maintaining wetland ecosystem functions, and impact
assessment, form interventions addressing the direct drivers of change to
ecosystems.

61 MiL.INNium EcosysT1M Assi SSMINT, supra note 6.

" Ramsar, Res. IX. I Annex A. supra note 8.
194 FINLAYSON ET AL.

FIGURE 4. A conceptual framework for the wise use of wetlands and the maintenance of their
ecological character, and the application of the guidelines in the Ramsar toolkit of Wise Use
67
Handbooks (fourth edition) as strategies and interventions in the framework.

Global

\ Local
egional

Human Well-being &Poverty Reduction Indirect Drivers of Change

Health, cecutly Demographc
OElvironmcntal secudly Economicagetrado, ublidis, makets)
Economicseceny Soc opoitical log qoemanceInutltutional&
Cultrai securiy legalfranumeok
Equity Ociencea technology
Cultural& religous leg choicesabout what ard
muchto consume
5.'RCCle.,

-4Oe t~-ee
5,5 uswsO y

no< Direct Drivers of Change

Ecosystem Services ose Changetin focal
laud ute and land coer
Provilsltng (egdood Iteuh Specieo ,emovalaud/or inva ovelrntroductions
.ate,fuel genetictrtutce) Euttphicanon andpollutIon
Regulatiog eg climatewte, HydradIcirfras cuctedcveloptrent
.mtaInsu-sey ,atou hatd INthuttn)
a ,moaO

eett uOnnsuan
prndu nutitcynolq
mlnu Al
,tt..MIa et C.e

teLlusa.~a

enm mdl,,, ,nOss II N,,usuu 0,10,,,. tO.. 0,40, LssmOi,, 40,4, ,udec-i., ,sna~, c~cI~cLa,,

Only two sets of guidelines-those covering national wetland policies

and on reviewing legislative and institutional frameworks-deal wholly with
the indirect drivers of change. Some guidelines, such as those on interna-
tional cooperation, on global action for peatlands, and on communications,
education, and public awareness, include strategies and interventions that ap-
ply to several parts of the Framework. The MA conceptual Framework can
therefore provide an overall guide to the Ramsar wise use guidelines and be
used to identify gaps. Guidance on the adaptation to and mitigation of climate
change is one such gap, as is guidance on managing agriculture in wetlands.
These gaps are being addressed through formal processes established by the
Convention's Scientific and Technical Review Panel (STRP), which provides
independent scientific advice to the Convention.

7. HAS RAMSAR'S WISE USE APPROACH HELPED ACHIEVE

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FOR WETLANDS?
An important question can be asked about the effectiveness of implementation
of the wise use approach by governments and other stakeholders; namely, after

1 See id.; WISE USE OF WELANDS, supra note 8.

RAMSAR CONVENTION, ECOSYSTEM-BASED APPROACHES 195

40 years of attention to delivering the wise use commitments of the Ramsar

Convention, including stemming the loss and degradation of wetlands" has
implementation achieved the intended outcomes for the world and its people?
That is, have efforts to exploit the ecosystem services provided by wetlands and
other systems in a sustainable manner been successful? Overall, it seems not.
In 2005, the MA'9 reported that species from both coastal and inland wetlands
were continuing to decline at rates faster than for other ecosystems. In 2010,
assessment of the suite of indicators established for the 2010 biodiversity target
reported that the target was not being met globally; conversely, pressures
on ecosystems have progressively increased since the 1970s, the state of
biodiversity has been in continuing decline. While society's responses have
been increasing, the rate of response appears to have slowed since 2002.70,
It seems that the concerns expressed in the 1960s about the drivers
of wetland loss and degradation, which originally led to the establishment
of the Ramsar Convention, remain and are probably more important now
than they were then. Imperatives for economic growth and development,
eradicating poverty, and supplying the increasing needs of an ever-growing
human population for food, water, and energy security continue frequently to
override the maintenance of naturally functioning wetlands.
Yet, this is paradoxical, since it is these functioning wetlands that, largely
for free, deliver to people a huge worth of ecosystem services, with many
wetland systems being of particularly high value." The MA recognized that
trade-offs between maintenance and exploitation or conversion of ecosystems
are inevitable but that all too often decisions, particularly if they are made
sectorally, are made without full understanding of their implications for the
future and for other sectors of business and society, often with the poorest,
most vulnerable, and most directly dependent on natural ecosystems being
the losers, so threatening other efforts to reduce or eradicate poverty.74
The need for governments and society to work much more cross-
sectorally in order to resolve the current negative trends has been strongly
recognised by the Ramsar Convention, particularly in its adoption at COP10

6 Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, supra note 7, T.I.A.S. No. 11084, 996 U.N.T.S. 245.
MILENNuM EcosysiEm ASSESSMENI, supra note 6.
7oStuart H. M. Butchart et al., Global Biodiversity: Indicators of Recent Declines, 328 Scs. 1164 (2010).
71 SECRETARIAT 01 THE CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSTY, GLOBAL BIODIVERSITY OulLOOK 3 (2010),
available at http://www.cbd.int/doc/publications/gbo/gbo3-final-en.pdf (last visited 26 October 2011).
n See, e.g., TEEB, TH ECONOMICS o ECOSYSTEMS AND BIODIVERSITY: MAINSTREAMING THE EcoNoMics OF
NAlRE: A SYNTHESIS OF THE APPROACH, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF TEEB 14 (2010), avail-
able at http://www.teebweb.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=bYhDohL-TuM percent3d& tabid=924&
mid=1813 (last visited 26 October 2011).
7 sliCRETARIAT OF THE CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSTY, LINKING BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION AND
PovEIrY ALLEVIfl ION: A STArI o KNOWLEDGE REVIEW (CBD Technical Ser. No. 55, 2010), available
at http://www.cbd.int/doc/publications/cbd-ts-55-en.pdf (last visited 26 October 2011).
74MILLENNIUM ECoSYSTM ASSESSMENT, supra note 6.
196 FINLAYSON ET AL.

in 2008 of the Changwon Declarationon Wetlands and Human Well-Being."

This provides a powerful series of messages to decision-makers in the wide
range of sectors impinging on wetland and biodiversity conservation, whose
future business success depends just as much on healthy wetlands as does the
conservation sector.
On water management, for example, the Changwon Declarationurges
that "business as usual is no longer an option" and that to close the widening
gap between supply and demand of water, it is essential to: use our available
water more efficiently; stop our wetlands from becoming degraded or lost
(based on clearly recognizing that we all depend on healthy wetlands for our
water security), as wetland services are currently being lost at a faster rate than
in any other ecosystem; restore our wetlands that are already degraded (this
offers us an efficient and cost-effective means of increasing ground and surface
water storage, improving water quality, sustaining agriculture and fisheries,
and protecting biodiversity); and wisely manage and protect our wetlands by
always ensuring that they have enough water for them to continue to be the
source of the quantity and quality of the water we need for food production,
drinking water, and sanitation."6 Failure to do so makes our water problems
worse, because wetlands are the only source of water to which we have easy
access.
Yet, despite much attention to integrated water resource management,
integrated river basin management, and integrated coastal zone management,
including through the Ramsar Convention," is elusive. It remains a major
challenge to achieve changes in policy, governance, and implementation, so
as to include the maintenance and restoration of wetlands in basin-scale water
management so that they can fully contribute their natural functions and values
to water security, given that frequently there are complex and long-embedded
practice and legislation in current water management regimes. Recent work by
Ramsar's STRP has reviewed case study experiences and progress in integrat-
ing wetlands into land and water resources planning and management at river
basin scale. This review is finding that progress has generally been slow, with
successes being hard-won over long periods of time. On the whole, progress
has been achieved only in smaller basins, and achieving that progress has often
needed the threat of ecosystem collapse or imminent collapse to generate

The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, The 10th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Conven-
tion on Wetlands, Changwon, S. Korea, 28 Oct.-4 Nov. 2008, Res. X.3: The Changwon Declaration on
Hurnan Well-Being and Wetlands, available at http://www.ramsar.org/pdf/res/ key ress 03.e.pdf (last
visited 26 October 2011).
76 id.

n See RAMSAR CoNvrENTION SECRETARIAr, RAMSAR HANDBOOKS FOR THI WisE UsE oi WETiLANDS, HANDBOOK 8,
WAR-RiArloi) GuimANCI-: AN INTEGRSiI) FRAMEWORK FOR THI CONVENTION'S WAI R-Rai .Anin GuiANCIe
(David Pritchard ed., 4th ed., 2010), available at http://www.ramsar.org/ pdf/lib/hbk4-08.pdf (last visited
26 October 2011).
RAMSAR CONVENTION, ECOSYSTEM-BASED APPROACHES 197

collaborative planning and management responses. The review has identified

a suite of commonly experienced obstacles and challenges, but has also found
numerous creative solutions to respond to particular local situations."
While it is clear from the recent assessments of trends in wetland status
that responses to implementing the terms of MEAs such as Ramsar or CBD
have not yet been sufficient, it is perhaps better to ask "would the state of
the world's wetlands be worse if it had not been for these inter-governmental
processes and the worldwide efforts to implement them?" Since 2002, Ram-
sar's STRP has been developing and assessing a suite of "indicators of the
effectiveness of the implementation of the Convention" designed to address
this question. Initial findings indicate that those countries that report better
implementation are also reporting that their wetlands are in a relatively better
state. In particular, this appears to be the case for countries that have estab-
lished national policy/legislative frameworks and that are undertaking a wide
range of implementation activities both nationally and on-the-ground."
Encouragingly, there is an increasing trend since 1990 in the number
of Ramsar Parties that have established national wetland policies, although
by 2008 there still remained 60 percent of Parties that did not yet have
such national policy frameworks,"o which could be considered as a future
implementation priority in such countries.
Yet, many countries lack capacity or the cross-sectoral political will to
ensure such landscape-scale collaborative implementation is undertaken. En-
hancing human capacity and understanding of the value of wetlands across all
sectors of society must be the key priority for future work under the Conven-
tion. Critically, the Convention must strive to ensure that those responsible
as Ramsar Administrative Authorities have the necessary expertise, capacity,
and national mandates to take this message to those others in national gover-
nance who need it for their own sustainable futures, through maintaining and
restoring the world's wetlands for people and wildlife.

78 LUCIA SCooANInalo & Hi AHIUR MACKAY, RAMSAR TECHNICAI Ri rowr (forthcoming).

"See, e.g., UNEP/CBD/SBSTTA, Fourteenth Meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and
Technological Advice (SBSTTA) of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Nairobi, Kenya, 10-21 May
20 10, In-Depth Review ofthe Programmeof Work on the BiologicalDiversity ofhdand WaterEcosystems:
Summary of Background Information and Key Messages, UN Doc. UNEP/CBD/SBSTTA/14/INF/3
(April 11, 2010), available at http://www.cbd.int/doc/meetings/sbstta/sbstta-14/information/sbstta-14-
inf-03-en.pdf (last visited 26 October 2011).
soSee RAMSAR CoNvNsrioN SICRIrARIAT, RAMSAR HANDOOKS FOR THE WisL UsE OF WilANi)s, HANDBOOK
2, NAnONAL W ItLAN) Poiiciis: DEVELOPING AND IMPLiMINGW NAliONAL W1iviAND PoICIES (David
Pritchard ed., 4th ed. 2010), available at http://www.ramsar.org/pdf/lib/hbk4-02.pdf (last visited 26
October 2011).
198 FINLAYSON ET AL.

8. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The concepts and views outlined in this article are those of the authors.
They were developed through discussions among members of the Ramsar
Convention's Scientific and Technical Review Panel's Working Group on
Wise Use and contributors to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and Its
Wetlands and Water Synthesis Report for the Ramsar Convention. We thank
David Coates (CBD Secretariat), Royal Gardner (Stetson University School
of Law), and Dwight Peck and Anada Tiega (Ramsar Secretariat) for valuable
comments on a draft of the article, and Lisa-Maria Rebelo for providing the
map in Figure 2.