‘The Blue Nile in Lake Tana, Ethiopia is a vital wetland that is rich with sediment and supports 50% of the country’s freshwater resource, and reminds us of the power, fragility and constantly changing nature of wetland ecosystems’ Former CEO Jane Madgwick
FROM OUR CEO
In our own projects on the ground, we continued to demonstrate the benefits of healthy wetlands for communities, for biodiversity and for the climate. Our work ranged from working with farmers in the Pantanal to improve cattle grazing practices, to improve cattle grazing practices to prevent fires, to supporting communities to manage scarce water resources in the Sahel to prevent conflict, to strengthening livelihoods for fishers in Kenya reducing the pressure on mangroves. We unlocked funding for peatland restoration from Peru to Ireland to Mongolia, and guided government principles for mangrove restoration in Indonesia. Importantly, we worked through partnerships like Blue Lifelines for a Secure Sahel and the European WaterLANDS project to take these efforts to scale, and we used our connections to influence policies, share knowledge and best practices, and channel new finance towards wetland conservation and restoration. We now must continue to invest in strengthening our organisation to accelerate and scale up our impact. This has been a year of transition for Wetlands International, following the departure of our long- serving CEO, Jane Madgwick. Jane joined Wetlands International in March 2004, and was instrumental in turning our organisation into the leading global voice for wetlands, with a network of 19 offices operating in many countries worldwide. Thanks to her courage, passion and leadership, Wetlands International stands ready to inspire and mobilise action for wetlands on an unprecedented scale. We are immensely grateful to Jane for her two decades of service – and are delighted that she will continue to have a role in our organisation as a lifelong Counsellor of Honour. Meanwhile, I have been deeply honoured to take on the role of CEO as we start our search for a permanent successor. In this, I am grateful for the support of our newly reconfigured Management Team. Femke Tonneijck, our new Director of Programme Impact, is responsible for overseeing and guiding our major programmes to meet the goals set out in our Strategic Intent. Maria Stolk, our
new Director of Network Development, drives and oversees institutional strengthening of our growing global network. Ron van Leeuwen, our Director of Resources, continues to provide strategic leadership for the Finance, Governance, HR, Risk & Compliance, and IT functions. I am also grateful to our Supervisory Council, which guides and oversees our policies and strategy. This year, we welcomed a new Chair, Jan Karel Mak, along with four new members, Tiega Anada, Frederick Kwame Kumah, Janet Nieboer and Helen O’Connor. Finally, my thanks to all of our staff, partners and supporters. We have achieved much together in the past year, and we realise there is a lot to improve on still. I look forward to continue to work with you preventing conflict to safeguard and restore the world’s wetlands for people and nature.
CEO, Management Team and Supervisory Council in Malindi, Kenya (November 2023)
The world is waking up to the critical importance of wetlands. If 2022 brought big global commitments – notably the Mangrove Breakthrough and the Global Biodiversity Framework – then 2023 was the year of action. More countries committed to safeguarding and restoring mangroves, and there were significant new finance pledges. A coalition of governments launched the Freshwater Challenge, which seeks to restore 300,000 km of rivers and 350 million hectares of wetlands. Our call for a global Peatland Push at the UN climate summit, to urgently safeguard and restore peatland carbon stores, was widely supported. More countries included wetland solutions within their national climate change mitigation and adaptation plans.
Han de Groot CEO, Wetlands International
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Wetlands International Annual Review 2023
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