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Wetland Ecosystem Services and the Ramsar Convention: an Assessment of Needs

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Abstract

The Ramsar Convention promotes the wise use of wetlands as a fundamental tenet behind the desire to stop and reverse the loss and degradation of wetlands. The concept of wise use has been formally defined as the maintenance of ecological character, of which ecosystem services form an integrated element. The Contracting Parties to the Convention submit formal National Reports (NRs) before the triennial Conference of Parties in order to report on progress towards implementation. The information contained in the National Reports submitted for the eleventh Conference of Parties (Bucharest, 2012) has been reviewed in order to assess progress made on understanding of and reporting on wetland ecosystem services. Notwithstanding concerns regarding the pedigree and utility of the information reported through the NRs, the review has demonstrated reporting on the benefits provided by Ramsar Sites is limited, that regional differences exist in the reporting on ecosystem services and that some ecosystem services are more frequently reported than others. Based on this evaluation recommendations for the future development of guidance for integrating assessment of wetland ecosystem services are proposed.

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Acknowledgments

The Ramsar Convention’s Scientific and Technical Review Panel’s Working Group on Ecosystem Services, and particularly Ritesh Kumar, are thanked for the contribution to the development of ideas presented in this paper. The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust are warmly thanked for their support and contribution of staff time to undertake the data synthesis from the National Reports. Two anonymous reviewers are warmly thanked for their positive and helpful comments on the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. RM Wetlands & Environment Ltd, Littleworth, Oxfordshire, SN7 8EQ, UK

    Robert J. McInnes

  2. WWT Consulting Ltd, Slimbridge, Gloucestershire, GL2 7BT, UK

    Matthew Simpson, Beatriz Lopez & Robbie Hawkins

  3. Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, Slimbridge, Gloucestershire, GL2 7BT, UK

    Robert Shore

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  1. Robert J. McInnes
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  2. Matthew Simpson
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Correspondence to Robert J. McInnes.

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McInnes, R.J., Simpson, M., Lopez, B. et al. Wetland Ecosystem Services and the Ramsar Convention: an Assessment of Needs. Wetlands 37, 123–134 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-016-0849-1

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