Less than two years ago, the world came together in Montreal and agreed on a global plan to improve our relationship with nature. The adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), also known as The Biodiversity Plan, in December 2022 was a truly historic step for the international community and one that is often hailed as the “Paris Agreement moment” for global biodiversity conservation.

As we celebrate World Wetlands Day on the 2nd of February, let us recognize the invaluable role wetlands play in enhancing human well-being as well as their important role as key habitats for migratory waterbirds and other biodiversity. Wetlands are vital ecosystems that act as nature's safeguards, providing flood control, purifying water, and supporting human well-being by providing food, clean water, and livelihoods to millions of people around the world.

This year’s World Wetlands Day theme “It’s time for wetland restoration” echoes the same spirit of urgency and action which led to the historic adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) by 196 countries in December 2022. The GBF recognizes the importance of protecting and restoring wetlands – amongst other places, in Target 2, which calls on countries to “ensure that by 2030 at least 30 percent of areas of degraded terrestrial, inland water, and coastal marine ecosystems are under effective restoration.”

The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat – is the original name of what we today refer to as the Convention on Wetlands. The four words at the end: “especially as Waterfowl Habitat” are important for us at AEWA. Ornithologists and hunters were the first to support the idea of international wetland conservation, because they understood the importance of international wetland conservation for maintaining migratory waterfowl.