The Wetland Atlas: Mapping ways to accelerate wetland conservation
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Nature based solutions
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Press Release
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Press Release
PRESS RELEASE, Netherlands, April 9th
With the world still losing wetlands at an alarming rate, Wetlands International today launched the Wetland Atlas, a global, online platform designed to help clear the ‘data fog’ that is slowing much-needed investment and unlock new action and funding by governments, businesses and investors to accelerate wetland conservation.
Healthy wetlands are central to tackling the greatest challenges of our era: water and food security, climate change, nature loss and sustainable development. But 22% of the world’s freshwater and coastal ecosystems have been lost since 1970 and a quarter of remaining wetlands are degraded. Ambitious global targets and effective solutions exist, but action and funding for wetland protection and restoration lag far behind what it is needed.
One of the primary reasons: the lack of clear, up-to-date, insightful and easily accessible data and analyses. Exactly what the Wetland Atlas was developed to overcome.
“The Wetland Atlas will open up a whole new world of wetlands, accurately mapping different freshwater and coastal wetlands and their diverse values, and guiding public and private funders to invest in conservation projects that will yield the greatest returns for people, nature and climate,” said Coenraad Krijger, CEO of Wetlands International. “This unique tool is not a silver bullet, but it will help to transform how governments, businesses and financial institutions value wetlands, and invest in their protection and restoration.”
Currently, wetland data is fragmented, siloed, inconsistent and incomplete. The Wetland Atlas aims to bridge this gap by bringing together available information into a single, accessible tool. By combining biophysical, socio-economic and policy-relevant information, the platform enables governments, donors and investors to prioritise actions where they can have the greatest impact.
“Different decision makers will come to the platform with different questions, but the goal is always the same: help them make faster, better-informed decisions and so accelerate wetland action,” said Francesca Antonelli, Freshwater Lead at Wetlands International.
While there are costed plans to add extra regions to the tool, the Wetland Atlas currently focuses on the Sahel and the Horn of Africa – increasingly vulnerable regions, where investing in healthy rivers, lakes and other wetlands is central to not only enhancing water and food security, but also ensuring peace and security.
The Wetland Atlas builds on Wetlands International’s long track record of collaborating with partners on cutting edge research, influential advocacy, citizen science and mapping tools, including the Global Mangrove Watch and International Waterbird Census.
It is also a major step in support of the work of GEO-Wetlands partnership, which aims to benefit stakeholders and users with Earth Observation-based mapping, monitoring, inventory, and assessment of wetlands under the aegis of the Convention on Wetlands. The Wetland Atlas is built on open-access principles as well as data drawn from a combination of published research, global and national databases, partner contributions, new data and user input. It will continue to evolve as new data becomes available.
Specifically, the Atlas is designed as a decision-support platform, helping users to:
- Identify what types of wetlands are where;
- Understand their climate mitigation potential;
- Assess how many people directly depend on surrounding wetlands;
- Determine the protection status of wetlands; and
- Get a broad understanding of expected costs and returns on investments in specific interventions.
The Wetland Atlas was developed with technical support from Aberystwyth University, tool design by Vizzuality, and the generous support of donors advised by Effektiv-Spenden.