FROM OUR CEO
Jane Madgwick, Chief Executive Officer, Wetlands International
Two days before the UN climate summit, I had the opportunity to speak with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at an event hosted by the Global Center on Adaptation in Rotterdam. We discussed the urgency of increasing efforts to protect and restore wetlands — and peatlands in particular — to combat the climate emergency. With peatlands storing twice as much carbon as the world’s forests, wetlands must be at the centre of the narrative on how we can meet our global climate goals. PM Trudeau made this subject a key part of his statement at the event and followed up with new commitments in the Glasgow summit.
Restored wetlands from aquaculture ponds in Liaohe Estuary, China
More than ever, our goals and ways of working are relevant to the global agenda. We see good signs in terms of scaling up our impact. In 2021, we witnessed a stronger focus on water in the climate dialogues as well as heightened understanding that the biodiversity and climate crises are highly interdependent. Throughout the year we profiled “wetland Nature-based Solutions” as bridges connecting the nature, water and climate agendas, using our programme achievements to provide evidence on how to upscale. Backing up the ambition set out in our Strategic Intent 2020-2030, we promoted dialogue and support for global wetland targets to be included in the Global Biodiversity Framework review process. The scale of wetland recovery we need to see is formidable and must become everyone’s business. We have achieved some exciting milestones and outcomes in 2021. For example, in Building with Nature Indonesia (2015-2021) we showed that by having good scientific insights, engaging the right blend of partners and using an inclusive, holistic landscape approach, it is possible in as little as five years to create a more resilient mangrove coast, enhance the prosperity and safety of local villages, enable long-term sustainability and create the conditions for upscaling.
Examples like this encouraged us in 2021 to diversify and strengthen our strategic partnerships to develop and finance a portfolio of large-scale wetland landscape regeneration programmes, as further illustrated in this review. These landscape initiatives will be a source of inspiration and global learning, as well as bringing biodiversity, social and economic benefits locally. To deliver long-term landscape impacts, we have invested in additional staff capacities, new partnerships, and more intensive collaboration across the entire network of offices despite ongoing Covid-19 constraints. In 2021, with dedicated finance we invested in stepping up our communications and fundraising capacities as well as supporting partnership and programme development. With flexible funding, an enhanced staff team and a growing portfolio of strategic partners, Wetlands International is increasingly well positioned to scale up its influence and impact, largely through inspiring and mobilising many others to take action. One exciting mechanism for this is working with partners in a set of iconic wetland landscapes to demonstrate and refine the systematic “4 Returns for landscape
regeneration” approach, that we launched with Commonland and the Landscape Finance Lab in 2021. This approach will bring our experience and knowledge to the fore and will help us to better connect our work on shaping integrated solutions for wetlands at the landscape level with our influence on national and global policies and investments. Looking ahead and mindful that we are running out of time to achieve global climate goals, our most urgent and important task is to engage broader support to safeguard and restore wetlands for people, climate and nature. Towards the end of 2021, we thanked André van der Zande for his outstanding service as Chair of Wetlands International and welcomed him into the prestigious group of Counsellors of Honour. We welcomed Jan Ernst de Groot back into the Chair and I look forward to work with him and a diverse, talented Council, as well as a growing set of country Chairs, to chart the upward development of our organisation worldwide. Lastly, I want to express my deep gratitude to our growing partners, donors, members and staff around the world for their invaluable contributions and collaboration.
Jane Madgwick, CEO, Wetlands International
Thank you.
6
7
Wetlands International Annual Review 2021
Wetlands International Annual Review 2021
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online