13 minute read
COPs and connections Why we’re upbeat about the future of wetlands
COPs and connec tions
Coming together for biodiversity Coming together for biodiversity
When the 15th Convention on Biological Diversity COP meeting gets under way in China, WWT will be flying the flag for wetlands. But how optimistic can we feel about the latest government ambitions – and what international cooperation and creative intervention is needed to implement change?
or three-quarters of a century now,
FWWT has been a driving force in wildlife conservation in the UK and overseas: championing, defending and advocating for threatened species. As governments worldwide fail to meet climate and biodiversity action targets, we have already been taking action (see overleaf ) to put wetlands front and centre of efforts to tackle this emergency.
To this end, in recent years, you may have noticed a shift in our focus – a broadening from species to systems. “You might be wondering why you hear less about ducks and geese these days, and more about blue carbon, flood alleviation and water quality, or the benefits of urban wetlands to wellbeing,” says Geoff Hilton, our Head of Conservation Evidence. “You may wonder what this has to do with wildlife.”
The answer is, of course, everything. The naturalist and conservationist John Muir wrote: “When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.” Wetlands, and especially rivers, illustrate this connectivity in a literal as well as metaphorical sense: actions in upper catchments have implications for species and systems downstream. You can invest massively in a reserve, but if water flowing in is polluted with domestic, industrial or agricultural effluents, the gains are limited.
Wetlands are the responsibility of a whole society, and that’s another good reason to ensure everyone has a chance to care. Communities that have nature close to them become inspired and empowered, and are much more likely to respond to calls
Biodiversity is species, and by extension all their interactions. Call it nature, ecology, wildlife, life… none of these terms can really be isolated from each other, and humans are inextricably part of it all
for protection for areas of nature that are under threat far away.
The highest-level forums for addressing the future of nature are United Nations meetings like last year’s COP26 climate conference and the forthcoming Convention on Biological Diversity COP15 to be held in Kunming, China – both of which WWT has been deeply involved in. An emerging trend of these recent COPs – or ‘Conferences of the Parties’ – is the way that insights gleaned from science are increasingly aligned with indigenous wisdom, especially ideas about reciprocity (giving back to nature as we take from it) and sustainability (not taking more than can be replenished) and with what might be called the nature cure revolution. Forest bathing, wild swimming, prescription rambling, green gyms and birdwatching – the benefits of time spent in nature are gaining scientific credibility.
This all chimes with the founding ethos of WWT. “Right back to Peter Scott, our aim has been to bring people closer to nature so that they can care about it,” says Geoff. “Now the wellbeing benefits of
Action at home – for wildlife, for us
We have plenty to learn at gatherings like the CBD COP, but also a great deal to share. Thanks to your support, we’re world leaders in how to regenerate wetlands – and their ecosystem services. There are some wonderful examples in the UK, all of which also support wildlife
Saltmarsh
Saltmarsh habitats are fantastic carbon stores – they bury a lot more carbon than woodlands. The saturated conditions slow down the rate at which organic material decays, allowing it to accumulate faster than in dry habitats, with its carbon locked away. The restoration of saltmarshes is not cheap, but it can be achieved by managed realignment of coastal defences, allowing the tide to inundate low-lying land. The biodiversity gains are beautifully showcased by our Steart Marshes reserve, where wildlife now thrives in new abundance. In 2020, a pair of rare black-winged stilts succeeded in rearing three chicks – an astonishing success.
Black-winged stilt
Bittern
Reedbeds
The new reedbed filtration system at WWT Slimbridge was designed to improve water quality, by treating effluent from the visitor facilities and returning it safely to nature. Cleaner water also creates better habitat for wildlife such as bitterns and water voles to thrive. Another win-win!
Floodplains
We’re leaders in natural flood management schemes, where wetlands are established to protect towns downstream that also help improve water quality and benefit wildlife. We’re also celebrating achievements elsewhere, like the fabulous rewilding scheme that is reconnecting floodplains to their rivers on the Lowther Estate in Cumbria. Habitats that can help reduce flooding, such as floodplains, provide perfect habitat for cranes, supporting their return to the UK and overseas.
Common crane
Wetland areas in England: the future is blue
Current extent of wetlands
Potential future extent of wetlands
The UK beaver population has been estimated at more than 400 animals
Urban rivers
Blue spaces in urban
areas can benefit people’s areas can benefit people’s health and wellbeing and bring wildlife back to our cities. In Slough, we’re supporting the local council with its ongoing project to restore watercourses in the city. Already the Salt Hill Stream has been transformed from a garbage-choked drain into a valued community blue space with thriving populations of invertebrates and reintroduced fish, attracting kingfishers, grey herons and more, and further funding has been awarded to re-naturalise other stretches of water and bring them to the surface.
Grey heron
Restoring the Salt Hill Stream nature are recognised, the case is even stronger, especially in places where lots of people live. Giving people access to clean, nature-rich rivers and wetlands has the potential to make happier, healthier people and societies, and create millions more advocates for nature.”
Muir was far from the first person to recognise the profound truth that everything in nature (including all the follies and achievements of humanity) is connected. Indeed, the reciprocity this kind of understanding inspires is a feature of indigenous cultures worldwide. But such thinking has been slow to penetrate modern land and water management. Things are changing fast, however, and during COP26 in 2021 we heard everyone from businesses to political leaders, celebrities to farmers, talking about humanity as part of nature and about nature-based solutions.
POSITIVE THINKING
And just as the climate became front-page news in November, we should soon start hearing a lot about biodiversity, as representatives from around the world gather in Kunming, aiming to deliver a new global biodiversity framework.
The UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) was first signed by leaders of 150 countries in 1992 at the Rio Earth Summit. It aims to guide the world through a now urgent transition to sustainable development, recognising the connection between thriving nature and humanity’s need for food security, shelter, clean air and water, medicines and a healthy environment in which to live. The biodiversity
Healthy ecosystems, interdependent webs of living organisms and their habitats, are vital to all life on Earth. Our ecosystems provide us with clean air, fresh water, food, resources and medicine
COP15 in Kunming will sign off a revised framework that aims to reverse current declining trends in nature by 2050.
These global agreements play an important role in unlocking the money and cooperation that organisations like WWT and our partners need. They obligate governments, businesses and others to act – and to do so effectively they need the expertise and experience of NGOs.
A GLOBAL TEAM
WWT will be representing members and pushing for greater wetland protection and restoration through the new targets that will be agreed at the Kunming COP. We will also be flying the flag for the World Wetland Network, made up of informal groups and wetland conservation organisations, which has valuable insights on local and indigenous issues that may otherwise be missed at major global conventions.
“One of our priorities at the biodiversity COP is to highlight the ecosystem services provided by wetlands,” says Geoff. “People have grasped the idea that trees provide all kinds of benefits, and that’s a good thing, but sometimes it can be a challenge to get a word in about anything else.
It’s worth bearing all this in mind when the news and social media coverage of recent COPs is full of doom and gloom. While the scale of the climate and extinction crises can make besuited meetings and announcements from conference podiums seem anodyne and woefully inadequate, Geoff finally sees a glimmer of hope.
This cautiously positive approach is shared by singer, naturalist and environmental activist Sam Lee. Sam runs nature-centric concerts and pilgrimages, and has a special affinity with rivers. While Geoff is a scientist, Sam’s background is in the arts, but the fight for biodiversity needs all kinds of voices on the front line.
“These big COP gatherings can seem a million miles away from the field,” says Sam, “but they are full of defenders and advocates for nature – all representing a particular patch of ground or species. There’s always an intense exchange of ideas, partnerships are forged, participants learn new practices, new schemes for funding or creative ways to boost public engagement. Perhaps above all, we’re all reminded just how interconnected we all are. We have to take a bigger responsibility than just looking after
Common frog
WWT will be at the next COP, wholeheartedly committed to bringing the changes we all need to the biggest political arena on the planet, using the languages of science, creativity and love
Carp
our own back garden. For so many species, survival depends on collaboration. We can’t protect wildlife from a silo.”
Along with fostering collaboration, the COPs are perhaps the world’s best opportunity to bring about practical action. The ambitions established at these global gatherings filter down to national policy, here and overseas, and this translates into money. “There’s never as much money as we’d like for conservation,” says Geoff. “But there is now funding for working with nature to solve problems. Not only are the cost-to-benefit ratios fantastic, the results are transformative.”
Of course, COPs on climate change and biodiversity have been taking place for nearly 30 years – and for all the hype and ambitious pledges, they have often failed to deliver real-world change. The promise made by rich nations to channel US$100bn into climate change mitigation for less wealthy countries has not been met. Post-COP26, the goal of the 2015 Paris Agreement, to keep global warming well below 2°C and pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5°C, looks increasingly unlikely to be realised. There is much more to be done, and no cause at all for complacency. But with these issues now firmly in the mainstream, and public opinion increasingly
Azure damselflies
behind positive change, there is perhaps more cause for hope than there has been in a long time. Needless to say, WWT and its supporters will continue to play a key role in holding governments to account, and calling on them to deliver on their commitments.
GALVANISING ACTION
Meanwhile, thanks to our members’ incredible support, we are not waiting on policymakers, but pressing ahead with practical action and vital research. In the UK, our Wetlands Can! campaign aims to restore 100,000ha over the coming decades and to mobilise one million people into standing up for wetlands. Everyone can play their part in this, whether that’s through supporting our work, getting involved in creative or community projects, local volunteering or fundraising, or simply adding your voice to our campaigns.
Our ambitions are broad, but meetings like COP15 offer a means to make them happen. Leveraging the restoration of saltmarshes, floodplains and peatlands as a means of saving money on flood defence, or of sequestering carbon, is highly effective. “The world is listening and there are opportunities all over the place,” says Geoff. “We just have to be ready to seize them.”
Everything is connected. It’s a cliché, but profoundly true. Science is making us more aware of those threads than ever, and the imaginative arts can help show us the shape of how things could be. We need everyone: scientists, field conservationists, performers and artists, specialists in policy and communication, grassroots activists and local guardians. So, when the dry reporting from China comes in, we are ready to look beyond the grim statistics and podium posturing and take action. WWT is committed to bringing the changes we all need to the biggest political arena on the planet, and will be unapologetically bringing together the languages of science, economics, policy, creativity and love. n
COPs explained
What is a COP?
A Conference of the Parties (COP) is a meeting of signatory nations, plus interested organisations and individuals, at which agreements and ambitions are reviewed and updated. COPs can cover different topics, although the term COP has become synonymous with the United Nations climate conferences. The biological diversity COPs are held biannually, while the climate COPs are generally held every year.
What is their purpose?
COPs are an opportunity for nations to assess their progress, boost collective measures, and ensure that all parties are meeting their pledges.
What is the ‘implementation gap’?
This gap is the difference between what has been promised and what is actually being done. COPs offer an opportunity to narrow that gap, although they aren’t always wholly successful at doing so.
