The Source Annual Review 2019

It’s inconceivable to talk of restoration of the dry lands without paying equal attention to the wetlands

a movement across the region that will revive wetlands and natural water sources to improve livelihoods, boost food production, reduce conflicts and buffer the region against climate change. By 2030, we aim to restore and safeguard 20 million hectares of wetlands in six river systems, making 10 million people richer, healthier and safer. The African Union is a partner in driving forward the ideas behind BLiSS in the Great Green Wall Initiative. Once en- visioned as a barrier of trees from the Atlantic to the Red Sea that would keep the sands of the Sahara from invading the Sahel, we propose it expands its focus to become an engine for better governance of the desert’s most valuable human and ecological resource – its water. In 2019, we also collaborated with the G5 group of Sahel countries (Burkina Faso, Chad, Niger, Mauritania and Mali) on its initiative to improve sustainable economic develop- ment by combatting the linked issues of migration, land degradation and climate change. We made the case that the inclusion of wetland restoration was vital to ending land degradation. These are big tasks. But as Elvis Paul Tangem, the African Union’s coordinator for the Great Green Wall Initiative, put it in 2019: “It is inconceivable to talk of restoration of the dry lands without paying equal attention to the wetlands.” And the alternative is not good. In February 2020, there was another massacre in Ogossagou, in which another 40 people died.

Partners Blue Forests Deltares Diponegoro University (UNDIP)

Saving the marsh deer in the Paraná Delta, Argentina

EcoShape Kota Kita

The Indonesian Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (MMAF)

The Indonesian Ministry of Public Works and Housing (PU)

TU Delft UNESCO-IHE Von Lieberman Wageningen University & Research Witteveen+Bos

The extensive wetlands and wealth of nature in the delta is threatened by unsustainable activities like industrial scale cattle ranching, lumber harvesting and urbanisation. Conservation of the marsh deer and its habitat requires coordinated policies and measures are required involving national municipalities, NGOs, private companies, local and regional institutions. This is being taken forward as part of a bigger picture approach that aims to promote sustainable development in harmony with safeguarding and restoring the ecosystem health and functionality of the delta.

The very charismatic marsh deer is one of the largest land mammals of the Paraná Delta, Argentina. Marsh deer live in and around marshes and lagoons and have large hooves with elastic interdigital membranes which are useful for swimming and walking on soft and floating vegetation. The marsh deer is a critically endangered species mainly due to the destruction of their traditional habitats and hunting. In 2019 Wetlands International began a new programme to safeguard and restore biodiversity in the Paraná Delta, as part of a wider effort in the wider Paraná-Paraguay River Corridor. Conserving the marsh deer is an element of the “Corredor Azul” programme.

Donors Otter Foundation

The Dutch Sustainable Water Fund

The German Federal Ministry for the Environ- ment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) as part of the International Climate Initiative (IKI)

Topconsortia for Knowledge and Innovation Waterloo Foundation

For the entire list see Annex

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Wetlands Annual Review 2019

Wetlands Annual Review 2019

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