RAMSAR CONVENTION ON WETLANDS
54th Meeting of the Standing Committee
Gland, Switzerland, 23–27 April 2018

Doc. SC54-21.15
Draft resolution on wetlands, peace and security
Submitted by Senegal
Action requested:•The Standing Committee is invited to review the attached draft resolution for consideration
at the 13th meeting of the Conference of the Parties.

Draft Resolution XIII.xx
Wetlands, peace and security
1.

NOTING that there is widespread recognition of the link between water insecurity and humaninsecurity, driven by anthropogenic and climatic factors, as reflected in the World Bank Group
report Turbulent Waters on Pursuing Water Security in Fragile Contexts, 2017; The Global Risks
Report 2018 of the World Economic Forum; the report of the Global High-Level Panel on Water
and Peace A Matter of Survival, 2017; and the The Hague Declaration on Planetary Security of
the Planetary Security Conference, The Hague, December 2017;

2.

RECOGNISING that wetlands are critical infrastructure that regulate and provide water tosociety and are of direct relevance to achieving water security and sustaining livelihoods;

3.

NOTING the increasing recognition that reversing wetland degradation and implementing wiseuse of wetlands is an important condition that helps maintain stable, peaceful and inclusive
societies that can underpin measures for improving water security as a basis for sustainable
development, as reflected in The Global Land Outlook, UNCCD, 2017; Freshwater Strategy 2017
– 2021, UNE, 2017; and Water Shocks: Wetlands and Human Migration in the Sahel, Wetlands
International, 2017;

4.

NOTING that many areas of growing human insecurity are centred around internationally
important wetlands, such as the Inner Niger Delta, Lake Chad, the Sudd, and the Hawizeh
Marshes;

5.

RECALLING Resolution IX.14, Wetlands and poverty reduction, that recognises the importance ofwetland ecosystems for human health and well-being, especially for people in less developed
countries, and calls for action to contribute to poverty reduction through the sustainable use
and restoration of wetlands;

6.

RECALLING Resolution XI.12, Wetlands and health: taking an ecosystem approach, that affirms
the dependency of human health and well-being upon ecosystems, stresses the key role ofwetlands in determining human health and well-being and calls for an ecosystem approach tohealth in wetlands and their catchments in order to bring health benefits to all;

7.

RECALLING Resolution XII.13, Wetlands and disaster risk reduction, that points at thedevastating impacts of disasters on the maintenance of healthy wetlands, the serious effects
that disasters have had on the lives and livelihoods of millions of people and on biodiversity, therole of fully functioning wetland ecosystems in enhancing local resilience, and calls for theintegration of wetland-based disaster risk reduction into national strategic plans and relevant
policies and planning;

8.

RECALLING Resolution IX.1 Annex C, An Integrated Framework for the Ramsar Convention’s
water-related guidance, that affirms the interdependency between water and wetlands andhighlights the importance of effective governance for water resources management in relation
to ecosystems;

9.

RECOGNISING the need to integrate natural resource management into national security
strategies and migration policy to stimulate development and reduce insecurity and conflict asevidenced by the Security, Stability and Sustainability initiative launched by African
governments at the Climate Change Conference in Morocco on 16 November 2016;

10. ACKNOWLEDGING that climate change and environmental degradation exacerbate potential
conflict, in light of their impact on desertification, land degradation, and water and foodscarcity, as noted in the EU Global Strategy for the European Union’s Foreign and Security
Policy: Shared Vision, Common Action: A stronger Europe, 2016;
11. ACKNOWLEDGING the interdependency between SDG 6 on water, SDG 11 on sustainable cities
and communities; SDG 13 on climate action, SDG 15 life on land and SDG 16 on peace, justiceand strong institutions, and that the status of wetlands is relevant to targets under these goals;
further NOTING that SDGs 13 and 16 will be reviewed in-depth during the high-level politicalforum on sustainable development in 2019;12. AWARE that participants of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in Cancun, Mexico,2017, recognised the priority needed to manage water risks and the need for nature-based
solutions for successful disaster preparedness, disaster risk reduction and climate change
adaptation;
13. NOTING that the OECD multidimensional framework on fragility recognises environmental
fragility as one of the five dimensions of fragility, next to economic, political, security andsocietal fragility, pointing inter alia at a strong rule of law and governance as mechanisms toeffectively address environmental fragility;
14. NOTING that the Peace Promise launched at World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul, Turkey,
2016, contains five commitments to more effective synergies among peace, humanitarian anddevelopment actions in complex humanitarian situations, including the commitment to conduct
context, risk or conflict analysis regularly, and the commitment to do no harm and ensure
conflict sensitive programming 1;
1

Interventions in conflict-affected areas can have both positive and negative impacts on conflict dynamics.
“Do No Harm” is an approach that seeks to analyse how an intervention may be implemented in a way that
addresses the underlying causes of conflict rather than exacerbating conflict. Conflict sensitivity is the ability of
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15. RECOGNISING that, if managed well, freshwater ecosystems contribute to mitigating risks,
promoting stability and trust-building measures, as reflected in the UNE Freshwater Strategy
2017 – 2021, and in the UNE Environmental peace building initiative;
THE CONFERENCE OF THE CONTRACTING PARTIES
16. INVITES Contracting Parties to identify and map the “wetland hotspots”, where wetlands arecontributing to holding the peace, through supporting livelihoods and sustainable development– and where loss of wetlands is contributing to insecurity;
17. REQUESTS the STRP to develop guidance on “wetland hotspot” mapping and vulnerability
assessment, drawing on the experience of major programmes such as Partners for Resilience;
18. INVITES Contracting Parties to assess the current condition and vulnerability of “wetlandhotspots” to future changes in climate and natural resource management in the wider
landscape and the related risks to peace;
19. ENCOURAGES Contracting Parties to safeguard critical wetland infrastructure by resolving
natural resource use trade-offs using best practices such as integrated river basin management,
integrated landscape approach, establishing and respecting environmental flows, establishingand implementing wetland management plans and investing in the restoration of degradedsites;
20. ENCOURAGES relevant national and international organisations to gather and share informationon the specific peace benefits that may be gained by managing wetland ecosystem services
wisely and on the consequent impacts on conflict prevention, aiming to generate a wider
commitment for the wise use of wetlands;
21. INVITES Contracting Parties, and relevant national and international organisations as
appropriate, to commit to doing no harm and to applying a conflict-sensitive approach in thedevelopment and implementation of wetland management and restoration projects andprogrammes, while involving local stakeholders;
22. URGES the Secretariat to nurture and establish partnerships between the wetland communityand peace, humanitarian and development actors, to highlight the importance of wetlands forpeace and security, and to create synergies and complementarities that are required to ensurethat wetlands underpin peace and security;
23. ENCOURAGES Contracting Parties to wisely use wetlands as part of strategies to maintain andrestore peace, into national and key regional planning processes and financing mechanisms,
such as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) andnational security plans;
24. ENCOURAGES Contracting Parties to integrate ecosystem management related considerations,in particular relating to water management and “wetland hotspots” into regional security plansan organization to: i) understand the contexts it operates in, ii) understand the interaction between its
intervention and the context and iii) act upon this understanding in order to minimize negative impacts andmaximise positive impacts on conflict (Conflict Sensitivity Consortium, 2012: How to guide to conflictsensitivity)
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and strategies of Regional Economic Integration Organisations in relation to inter alia migration,security, climate action, land degradation and development assistance;
25. ENCOURAGES Contracting Parties to work with the United Nations Convention to Combat
Desertification (UNCCD), the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change(UNFCCC), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Ramsar International Organization
Partners (IOPs), national and international NGOs and others to look for synergies, to integrate
relevant issues into the strategies and plans of these conventions, and to drive commitments
and action together such as working through existing Memoranda;
26. INVITES Contracting Parties to use the 2019 review process of SDG 16 2 to highlight the link
between wetlands, peace and security and to underline the need for wise use of wetlands topromote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, and to use the review
process of SDG 13 to add the relevance of wetlands to strengthening resilience and adaptive
capacity to climate related hazards and natural disasters;
27. URGES Contracting Parties together with the Ramsar Convention’s IOPs and other key partners
to raise awareness of this in dialogues and political processes at all levels, and take needed
actions to conserve and sustainably use wetlands;
28. REQUESTS the STRP to monitor the discussions, developments and trends in international fora
on the role of wetland conservation, restoration and wise use in peacekeeping and in conflict
prevention in the development of their work, and to develop guidance and facilitate knowledge
sharing about this;
29. FURTHER REQUESTS the STRP, if this work is approved by the Standing Committee, to keep
Contracting Parties informed of these discussions, developments and trends through the STRP
report at future Standing Committees.

2In 2019 the HLP will review SDGs 4 on education, 8 on work, 10 on inequality, 13 on climate action, 16 on
peace and 17 on partnerships.
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Annex 1Concept for a Ramsar Convention Draft Resolution provisionally titled “Wetlands, peaceand security”
1. Background
It is becoming increasingly recognized that the world faces increased water insecurity and that this isa factor, amongst others, underpinning instability leading to insecurity and heightened risk ofconflict. The recent Planetary Security Conference, The Hague, December 2017 is evidence of this 3.
This is being driven by one or a combination of climate variability, change and inequitable water
resource development. For many people, especially in the Sahel and many other arid and semi-arid
regions of the world, wetlands often play a vital role supporting health, livelihoods, the local
economy and even in some cases regional economies. When disasters such as drought strike thesewetlands take on a disproportionately important role for communities and biodiversity, providing ahaven and resources to survive. When these wetlands are placed under water stress and theresources and services they provide become degraded, communities can struggle to access sufficient
resources creating tensions between different stakeholder groups, often with different ethnic
backgrounds and beliefs. When this happens, the potential for instability and insecurity is raised.
When this is combined with other factors such as poor natural resource governance, existing ethnic
tensions and political discord then displacement and conflict can arise.
Many wetlands are therefore critical infrastructures that underpin peace and security for many
millions of people. Their wise use ensures maintenance of their functioning and related provision ofservices and benefits.
2. Purpose and potential call for actions of the resolution
To call on Contracting Parties to recognize wetlands as critical infrastructure that help promotepeaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, urge them, together with the Ramsar
Convention’s IOPs and other key partners to raise awareness of this in dialogues and politicalprocesses at all levels, and take needed actions to conserve and sustainably use wetlands. Potential
call for actions might include:• Identify the hotspots where wetlands are critical infrastructures supporting peace andsustainable development,• Wisely use wetlands as part of strategies to maintain and restore peace, by incorporating theminto national and key regional planning processes and financing mechanisms, such as Strategies
of Regional Economic Integration Organisations, NDCs and NAPs,• Implement best practices to support wise use such integrated river basin management andmaintaining environmental flows,• Nurture and establish partnerships between the wetland community and humanitarian sectors,• Integrate relevant issues into the strategies and plans of other international conventions suchas UNCCD, UNFCCC, CBD working through existing Memoranda.
3. Links with exiting Ramsar Resolutions, international commitments & processes
This resolution will link to Ramsar Resolutions on poverty, disaster risk reduction, human health,Ramsar guidance on river basin management, related SDGs, UN Environment peace building3

https://www.planetarysecurityinitiative.org/sites/default/files/2017-12/The_Hague_Declaration.pdf

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initiative, Planetary Security Conference (focused on Mali, Chad, Iraq), Cancun UNISDR, OECD stateof fragility reports, Wetlands International Watershocks report, and others.

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