Putting community resilience into practice

At the halfway point in implementation of the Partners for Resilience programme (PfR), a wealth of initial successes and lessons learnt have been identified. Based on the PfR resilience vision of eight key principles, the partners have now gathered case studies that illustrate how this is currently being translated into practice.

Integrating ecosystems in resilience practice

The integration of ecosystems and natural resource management in disaster risk reduction (DRR) has been largely overlooked to date. This document introduces a set of criteria, which can be used by policy makers and practitioners to better integrate the management of ecosystems and natural resources in their DRR work.

Working with Nature

Millions of people around the world are vulnerable to natural and man-made hazards. Unsustainable management and use of ecosystems is often a root cause of such vulnerability. Wetlands International calls for better integration of approaches to disaster risk reduction, bringing together expertise from relevant sectors and making optimal use of the natural protection provided by ecosystems.

Building with nature for coastal resilience

This leaflet explains the concept of hybrid engineering as it relates to mangrove coasts. It provides a rationale for moving away from over-reliance on hard engineered structures, and moving towards working alongside and with nature for coastal resilience. The information contained in this leaflet can be used by policy makers and practitioners when considering options for coastal defence in tropical coastal regions.

Rivers by Design

A step-by-step guide for planners, developers, architects and landscape architects on how to maximise the benefits of river restoration in development projects.

Cambio Climático

Esta publicación de la Cruz Roja Nicaragüense es una guía popular sobre el cambio climático, edicón 2013. Esta publicación fue actualizada por la Cruz Roja Nicaragüense, a través del Programa Gestión de Riesgos de Desastres ante el Cambio Climático, implementado por la Alianza por la Resiliencia con el apoyo técnico y financiero de Cruz Roja Holandesa, Cruz Roja Italiana y Wetlands International.

Policy Brief on Indirect Land Use Change and Peatlands

In this policy brief to the EU parliament and ministers, Wetlands International offers recommendations to effectively address indirect land use change emissions (ILUC) from peatlands. We also provide factual information on peatlands and greenhouse gas emissions and emphasise the following key points:

• Biofuels production on peatlands increases greenhouse gas emissions
• Indirect land use change (ILUC) emissions from peatlands are significant
• Drainage of peatlands is unsustainable
• EU rules on biofuels and proposals on ILUC are inadequate

The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity for Water and Wetlands

The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB), co-authored by Wetlands International, emphasises the enormous economic value of wetlands. TEEB For Water and Wetlands highlights the key role played by wetlands as natural infrastructure and the multitude of enormously productive services they provide around the world. The continued loss of wetlands illustrates the need for improved policy making and business decision making that accounts for their true value.

NGO black carbon letter to environment ministers

NGO sign on letter directed to environment ministers of Arctic states to urge them to use the occasion of their historic second meeting to take significant action to reduce emissions of black carbon.

Wetlands of International Importance in Russia / Водно-болотные угодья России, имеющие международное значение

 This book contains basic information on the 35 wetland sites designated by the Government of the Russian Federation for the List of Wetlands of International Importance under the Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar, Iran, 1971).

State of the Art Information on Mangrove Ecosystems in Indonesia

Indonesia is a tropical archipelago with coastlines measuring a total length of 95,181 km, making it the country with the fourth longest coastline in the world (EarthTrends WRI, 2003, and Rompas, RM.2009). All along the coast are the estuaries of rivers great and small that flow the whole year round thereby enabling mangroves to thrive, particularly on shores sheltered from the waves, such as lagoons, deltas, coral and sand bars. Currently, Indonesia’s mangroves cover 30,000 square kilometres, 21% of the global total mangrove area, and contain 45 (not including introduced species) of the world’s 75 species of true mangrove (Spalding et al., 2010). As a result, Indonesia is known as the country possessing the most mangroves, both in terms of area and number of species.

Annual IWC Count Totals: African-Eurasian Waterbird Census

This annual report summarises the totals per country per species of all waterbirds counted under the International Waterbird Census in the African-Eurasian region. The 2012 report includes counts from 72 countries between 2009 - 2012. The data in this report has been collected by thousands of individuals and collated by National Coordinators, whose names and organisations are listed in the file "Contributors".

Challenges to the integration of wetlands into IWRM: The case of the Inner Niger Delta (Mali) and the Lobau Floodplain (Austria)

The authors recognize that wetlands are poorly integrated in river basin management. Governments that endorsed the Ramsar Convention recognise the importance of the wetlands in Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) using the "critical path" approach but is not widely implemented.

Los impactos de las urbanizaciones sobre los humedales del Delta del Paraná

 Con este folleto se trata de mostrar como las acciones que alteran el régimen hidrológico de un humedal modifican drásticamente sus características ecológicas y producen graves impactos que comprometen el bienestar y los modos de vida de las comunidades locales y de las poblaciones vecinas que habitan su área de influencia.

Iniciativa de la “Ecosystem Alliance”

 Este folleto muestra el objetito de la Iniciativa de la Ecosystem Alliance en Argentina.