Wetlands International Supervisory Council
FROM THE SUPERVISORY COUNCIL (AND BOARD OF THE ASSOCIATION)
Miguel Ángel Jorge MEMBER (VICE CHAIR)
Angelique van de Beeten MEMBER (TREASURER)
Jan Ernst de Groot CHAIR (retired Dec 2022)
Jan Ernst de Groot, Chair Miguel Ángel Jorge, Vice-Chair
Adrie Papma MEMBER
Hastings Chikoko MEMBER (retired Dec 2022)
Maggie White MEMBER (retired June 2022)
Kazuaki Hoshino MEMBER (SECRETARY)
Eliot Taylor MEMBER
2022 was overall a very positive year for wetlands with these precious ecosystems achieving high profile attention in a series of global summits, culminating in the inclusion of targets and key language highlighting the critical importance of wetlands and inland waters in the Global Biodiversity Framework, adopted in December under the Convention for Biological Diversity. We would like to recognise the key role played by our staff and our partners who advocated tirelessly for wetlands throughout the year. Nevertheless, this last year brought challenges, too. The world was still confronting Covid at the start of the year. The war in Ukraine meant we paused our activities in Russia, and the energy and cost of living crisis has affected staff, partners, communities and our funders alike. The Council and Board of Association met regularly in 2022, maintaining close relations with the CEO and Management Team through our regular meetings. During our June Council meeting, held in Stirling, Scotland, we were able to see first- hand the critical roles played by peatland in preserving biodiversity, storing water and mitigating climate change. In Scotland, we met representatives of the Government, the ‘National Trust for Scotland’ and engaged companies such as Diageo. The Council visited a peatland restoration site at Flanders Moss where we were guided by ‘Nature Scotland’ staff and saw other sites nearby where restoration is just starting as part of a national programme of action across
In addition to its responsibility to supervise the implementation of the organisation’s strategy, annual accounts and the annual review, the Council provided guidance to the CEO and Management Team on a range of key issues, in particular on a renewed fundraising strategy and on strengthening the organisation’s human resources approach. We were delighted to see that progress was made in our international programmes, and in our organisational capacities and systems, made possible by the support provided by the COmON Foundation, the Dutch Postcode Lottery, and the effective giving platform Effectiv Spenden. Flexible funding is key for the organisation and enables us to take larger steps towards the goals laid out in our Strategic Intent, such as mobilising vehicles for upscaling such as the Mangrove Breakthrough. We also started a new long-term partnership on ‘Wetlands for Resilience’ with the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida), which complements our work on the ‘4 Returns’ approach and will make accessible knowledge and tools for wetland landscape restoration to a wide range of collaborators. On behalf of the entire organisation, we would like to thank our partners for their support and trust in Wetlands International. In 2022 we were delighted that Miguel Ángel Jorge accepted the role of Vice Chair. We also said goodbye to two members, Maggie White and Hastings Chikoko, after three years of service. Our thanks go to them for the support and inspiration that they provided.
Scotland to restore 250,000 hectares of degraded peatlands by 2030. We were pleased that Wetlands International is supporting this ambition, with knowledge and practical work on the ground. We’d like to thank Hans Schutten (Programme Head Climate Ready Land-use) who facilitated the meetings and visit for the Council.
“I thoroughly enjoyed my return to Wetlands International this past year and was struck by the major progress the organisation has made since 2016. I unfortunately had to resign as Chair in December, due to accepting a new senior role at my company. I would like to wish the remaining members of the Supervisory Council and Board of Association all the best in helping Wetlands International succeed in its mission to inspire and mobilise society to safeguard and restore wetlands for people and nature. I will continue to support from the sidelines.” Jan Ernst de Groot, Chair
Supervisory Council field visit to Flanders Moss, Scotland
Wetlands International Annual Review 2022
Wetlands International Annual Review 2022
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