Submission to the Programme of Work on the Biological Diversity of Inland Water Ecosystems

This submission to the CBD technical meeting in May 2010 in Nairobi (SBSTTA) contains Wetlands International's suggestions on the Indepth Programme of Work on Inland Waters.

The recommendations need to be significantly strengthened in terms of identifying and seeking to influence indirect as well as direct drivers of inland water biodiversity loss. In particular, the Convention needs to be urged to strengthen engagement with the sectors, such as agriculture and industry, that use and dispose water unsustainably and those that support them by managing water to this end. Furthermore the Convention should more strongly recognise that conserving inland water biodiversity is more than water allocation to maintain ecosystems. They should promote the use of inland waters as elements of the natural water infrastructure that provides services to users beyond biodiversity and should therefore be maintained and restored with this inmind.

Other suggested actions include but are not limited to:

a) Engage more strongly in promoting the implementation of established approaches, frameworks and policies that offer the opportunity for inland waters to be integrated into water planning and management based on an ecosystem approach such as “Integrated Water Resource Management“ and “Integrated River Basin Management“.

b) Going beyond recognition and acknowledgement of the role of inland waters in climate change mitigation by identifying concrete actions or strategies to address this role, for example through peatland conservation and restoration.