Fact Sheet
Convention
on Wetlands

Wetlands: Source ofsustainable livelihoods
Wetlands are essential for human health and prosperity.
They provide us with fresh water, ensure our foodsupply, sustain biodiversity, protect against flooding,and store carbon dioxide. As a major source of
employment globally, they are also ideally placed
to showcase truly sustainable livelihoods.

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www.ramsar.org
Fact Sheet 7.1

More than a billion livelihoods
Wetlands already sustain a vast rangeof jobs globally :Almost a billion households in Asia,
Africa and the Americas dependon rice growing and processing fortheir main livelihoods.
More than 660 million people rely on
fishing and aquaculture for a living;
most commercial fish breed or spawn
in coastal wetlands, and 40 % of all fishconsumed are raised in aquaculture.
An estimated half of international
tourists seek relaxation in wetland
areas, especially coastal zones.
The travel and tourism sectors support
266 million jobs, and account for 8.9 %of the world’s employment.
Rivers and inland waterways playa vital role in transporting goods andpeople in many parts of the world.
In the Amazon basin, 12 million
passengers and 50 million tons offreight are moved each year by
41 different shipping companies.
Vast networks deliver fresh waterand treat wastewater around theworld, while employing significant
workforces. For example, Bangkok’s
Metropolitan Waterworks Authority
employs over 5,300 staff.
The bottled water industry delivered
over 70 billion gallons of water
worldwide in 2013. Danone sells
major brands such as Evian and Volvic,
Bonafont and Mizone, and employs
more than 37,000 people in its waterbusinesses worldwide.

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Harvesting and processing plants,
fruits, reeds and grasses also provide
significant employment directlyin or near wetlands, especially indeveloping countries.

Situation : a vicious circle
Despite all the jobs and other vital
benefits that wetlands provide, 64 % of
the world’s wetlands have disappearedsince 1900. The wetlands that still
remain are often so degraded that thepeople who directly rely on wetlands
for their living – often the very poor –are driven into even deeper poverty.
In addition, by 2025, it is estimatedthat 35 % of people will directly facedeclining water supplies. This is theresult of a point of view that mistakenly
sees wetlands as wasteland.

Solution : a virtuous cycle
Enabling people to make a decent
living while ensuring that wetlands
will always provide drinkable water,
biodiversity, food and their many otherbenefits, do not have to be conflicting
goals. In fact, the new UN Sustainable
Development Goals underline that
reducing poverty requires us toprotect and restore ecosystems suchas wetlands.

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––Sustainability unites three key aspects
of development to achieve that goal
economic development: ensuringthat people have the ways and means
to build their own income and wealthsocial development: improving
cooperation, respect and trust betweensocial groups, and promoting
gender equality

a people-centred approach
1 Use
to understand needs–––––

How to create sustainable
livelihoods: What are the key
ingredients?

assess how vulnerable people
are to shocks, natural disasters andcivil strife, and how to reducethat vulnerability
understand how important seasonal
prices and employment opportunities
are, and explore other options
take an inventory of the potential
resources available

multiple kinds of ‘capital’
2 Makeavailable
actual products harvested fromwetlands such as reeds, fish, rice etc.

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environmental protection:conserving and restoring the earth’s
ecosystems to benefit both humanlife and the natural environment

good health to be able to earn a livinga voice in planning how local wetlands
should be usedbasic infrastructure, equipment
and tools
credit, cash or micro-loans

who can provide the3 Identify
different kinds of ‘capital’ and makethe changes happen

integrate key actors such as
governments, institutions, NGOs andlocal communities
determine who will take what rolein making the changes

skills and knowledge to understandtrade-offs and prioritizing

Case study: Brazil

Case study: Senegal

Tamar Project on sea
turtles

Mangrove restoration
to ensure sustainable
livelihoods

Tamar is an organization that protects
five endangered species of sea turtles
in Brazil. With funding from key sponsor
Petrobras, it has become a model
for conservation programes worldwide.
This project:■■–Senegal still has some 185,000 hectaresof mangrove estuaries in the Casamanceand Sine Saloum regions, but 45,000
hectares have been lost since the 1970s.
Healthy mangroves serve as effective
salt water filtration systems, provide
protection against storms, and act asnursery grounds for fish.

started in 1980 by hiring local fishermen
to patrol the sea turtle nesting beaches
in their regular fishing areas during thenesting season; halting the take of turtles
and eggs
built up a network of 23 centres locatedin important areas for sea turtle feeding,nesting, and development.
directly involves more than 1,300 people,
some 85% of them local coastal residents.
This includes 400 fishermen, who work invarious field activities.

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employs people from 25 different fishingvillages who staff visitor centres, workin shops or as guides, run conservation
education activities, and manufacture
Tamar clothing for sale.

The views and designations expressed in this publication arethose of its authors and do not represent officially-adopted viewsof the Ramsar Convention or its Secretariat.
Reproduction of this document in whole or in part and in any form
for educational or non-profit purposes may be made without special
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Except where otherwise noted, this work is protected undera Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial-No Derivative
Works License.

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has replanted 79 million mangrove trees
on more than 10,000 hectares

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Fact Sheet 7.2

The world’s largest mangrove
reforestation project is under way here,
thanks to Danone and the Livelihoods
Carbon Fund, who are working with
the Senegalese NGO Océanium.
This project:

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promotes the restoration of rice paddies
will produce up to 18,000 extra tons offish annually, along with shrimps, oysters,
and molluscs
plants trees that will store 500,000 tonsof CO2 over 20 years
has mobilized the efforts of 350 local
villages and 200,000 people

The Ramsar Convention
The Convention on Wetlands ofInternational Importance,
commonly known as the Ramsar
Convention, is a global intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for national action and international
cooperation for the conservation and wise useof wetlands and their resources. It is the only
global treaty to focus on one single ecosystem.