The Source
2021 Annual Review of Wetlands International

WETLANDSINTERNATIONAL
IS THE ONLY GLOBALNOT-FOR-PROFITORGANISATION
DEDICATED TO THE
CONSERVATION
AND RESTORATION OF
WETLANDS

What are wetlands?
Wetlands occur wherever water meets land – mangroves,peatlands, marshes, rivers, lakes, deltas, floodplains, flooded
forests, rice-fields, and even coral reefs. Wetlands exist in every
country across the world and every type of region – polar,
tropical, wet, dry, high and low altitude.
Healthy wetlands are key to restoring nature and healing our
climate, yet the world has lost up to 65% of its original wetlands.
Urgent action is needed to reverse this decline and revive thesenatural wonders.

Our Vision
A world where wetlands are treasured and nurtured for theirbeauty, the life they support and the resources they provide.
Our Mission
To inspire and mobilise society to safeguard and restore
wetlands for people and nature.

Aerial view of man and child picking lotus flowers in swamps.
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ANNUALREVIEW
2021
CONTENT

6

12

GLOBALVOICESFORWETLANDS
14

FROM
OUR
CEO

FROM THE
SUPERVISORYCOUNCIL

8

16

18

37

RichardHolland

Ibrahima
Sadio
Fofana51

62

Ritesh
Kumar

20

38

ACHIEVEMENTSWETLANDSAND
NATURE
TAKE COP26
CENTRE
STAGE

VIEWS
FROM THE
WATERS
EDGE

60

50

SUMMARYOF
FINANCEAND RESOURCING
62

28

45

WORKING
THROUGH
PARTNERSHIPS TOACCELERATEWETLANDRECOVERY

Cinthia
Soto

FUNCTIONING OF THE
ORGANISATION

46

51

THANK
YOU

JulienAnseau
6

4
5

20

17

HIGHLIGHTSSTRATEGIC
INTENT

36

Apri
SusantoAstra

OUR
OFFICES1

1. Latin America & Caribbean Panama
2. Brazil
3. Latin American & Caribbean Argentina
4. Global oﬃce
5. Europe
6. Russia

2

7
8

9

54

14

Silvina
Schuchner

18

10

15 16

12

19

11

13

7. West Africa Coastal
8. Guinea-Bissau
9. Sahel3

10. Ethiopia

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Wetlands International Annual Review 2021

11. Uganda
12. Eastern Africa
13. Tanzania
14. South Asia
15. Malaysia

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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 theevent 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 relevantto 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 outcomesin 2021. For example, in Building with Nature Indonesia(2015-2021) we showed that by having good scientificinsights, engaging the right blend of partners and using
an inclusive, holistic landscape approach, it is possible inas 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.

Wetlands International Annual Review 2021

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 landscapelevel with our influence on national and global policies andinvestments.

To deliver long-term landscape impacts, we have invested
in additional staff capacities, new partnerships, andmore intensive collaboration across the entire networkof offices despite ongoing Covid-19 constraints. In 2021,
with dedicated finance we invested in stepping up ourcommunications 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 isincreasingly well positioned to scale up its influence andimpact, largely through inspiring and mobilising manyothers to take action.

Looking ahead and mindful that we are running out oftime to achieve global climate goals, our most urgent andimportant task is to engage broader support to safeguard
and restore wetlands for people, climate and nature.

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 landscapeJane Madgwick, CEO, Wetlands International

6

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 thisreview. These landscape initiatives will be a sourceof inspiration and global learning, as well as bringing
biodiversity, social and economic benefits locally.

Towards the end of 2021, we thanked André van derZande for his outstanding service as Chair of Wetlands
International and welcomed him into the prestigious groupof Counsellors of Honour. We welcomed Jan Ernst de Grootback into the Chair and I look forward to work with him
and a diverse, talented Council, as well as a growing set ofcountry Chairs, to chart the upward development of ourorganisation worldwide. Lastly, I want to express my deep
gratitude to our growing partners, donors, members andstaff around the world for their invaluable contributions
and collaboration.
Thank you.

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HIGHLIGHTS
Call for focus on wetlands
in 2030 Action Targets
Wetlands International welcomed the draft Global
Biodiversity Framework to guide actions worldwide through2030 to conserve and restore nature and its essential
services to people, and drew attention to the importanceof having specific wetlands conservation and restoration
targets in achieving the goals set in the new global
biodiversity framework of the UN Convention on Biological
Diversity (CBD).

2. Mangroves
A net gain of 20% in global mangrove cover by 2030.

With other international organisations, Wetlands
International has drawn up proposed targets that should
be included in the new global agreement on biodiversity,
promoted as part of Nature-based Solutions to climatechange, and backed by the UN’s current decade forecosystem restoration.

4. Tidal flats
A net gain of 10% in the area of tidal flats by 2030.

3. Rivers and floodplains
Remaining free-flowing rivers and floodplains
are preserved and river connectivity is enhanced,
restoring floodplain ecosystem functionality andarea by 2030.

5. Migratory birds
50% of the estimated 7,000 critically importantsites identified along flyways come under favourable
management by 2030.

The 2030 targets we propose for global adoption include:
1. Peatlands
The remaining undrained peatland carbon storesremain intact and 10 million hectares of drained
peatland are restored by 2030.

For more info on wetland targets, visit:https://www.wetlands.org/news/wetlands-internationalwelcomes-the-2030-action-targets-and-calls-for-a-focuson-wetlands/

A common language and route tolarge scale ecosystem restoration
The urgent need and opportunity to address the joint biodiversity and climate crises by restoring nature and naturalprocesses is recognised and there is growing interest to
finance Nature-based Solutions at a whole landscape scale.
However, the challenge of preparing high-quality propositions for investment can be a barrier to action.
In 2021, Wetlands International officially became asupporting partner of the UN Decade on Ecosystem
Restoration and forged new partnerships to mobilise andupscale action to restore wetland landscapes at scale.
Our knowledge and experience in all regions are highly
valuable to address this challenge. So, we teamed up
with Commonland and the Landscape Finance Lab to set
out and launch The 4 Returns Framework for Landscape
Restoration: a step by step, systematic approach to bringstakeholders together to transform their landscape for four
returns: natural, financial and social returns, and the returnof inspiration. This framework offers a common language
for landscape regeneration that can help bridge thedifferent sectors and interests in any landscape and enable
collaboration for transformation over the long-term.
During a launch event on World Environment Day which
our CEO moderated, financiers, UN officials, NGOs,
government representatives and indigenous leaders gave
their backing and heard from those who had tested theapproach in different contexts and regions.
For more info on the 4 returns framework, visit:https://www.wetlands.org/publications/the-4-returnsframework-for-landscape-restoration/

Coastal wetlands such as mangroves sequester carbon up to 55 times faster than tropical rainforests

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A knowledge-baseand call to action for
mangroves

Leading the way for
how to Build with
NatureIn July, the Global Mangrove Alliance released the groundbreaking report, The State of the World’s Mangroves, which
compiles for the first time ever the very latest information
available on the value of mangroves and how we canreverse the downward trend impacting the world’s best
natural carbon sinks.

By collaborating with Wetlands International andmany international partners, Indonesia has become apioneer country for Building with Nature: an approach toinfrastructure and environmental management that works
with the forces of nature, rather than opposing them. Our
programme, Building with Nature Indonesia, creates stable
coastlines with reduced erosion risk through a uniqueintegration of mangrove restoration, small scale hardengineering and sustainable land use. Our publication,
Restoring an Eroding Coastline and Inspiring Action at
Scale (2015-2021), summarises the insights and lessons
from our landscape scale implementation of the Building
with Nature approach between 2015 and 2021 in Demak,
a coastal area in Central Java impacted by erosion, flooding
and devastating land loss. Local communities helped shapethe design and led the implementation, ensuring long-termsustainability, while it was developed and financed througha unique public-private partnership under the leadershipof the Indonesian government, Wetlands International andEcoshape. The success here has already led to replication
and upscaling in many other environments in Indonesia
and has stimulated other countries in the region to follow
suit.
As part of the project, we published technical guidelines
for restoring eroding tropical coastlines, to support thescaling up of Nature-based Solutions as an alternative to
traditional coastal engineering solutions.

Coordinated by Wetlands International and The Nature
Conservancy — both members of the Alliance — anddrawing from the Global Mangrove Watch, we contributed
significantly to this remarkable synthesis, alongside
100 authors from around the world who shared cuttingedge science and compelling stories. We now havethe knowledge to turn things around for these criticalecosystems. As we begin to realise their full value — ascarbon stores, fish factories, coastal defences and more
— ever-greater efforts need to be made to protect what
remains, and to upscale programmes of restoration.
For more information on the State of the World’s
Mangroves report, visit: https://www.wetlands.org/
publications/state-of-the-worlds-mangroves/
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Wetlands International Annual Review 2021

For more information on Building with Nature, visit: https://www.wetlands.org/publications/building-with-nature-inindonesia-restoring-an-eroding-coastline-and-inspiringaction-at-scale-2015-2021/

Wetlands and nature Alliances built for
take centre stage
saving Sahelian
at Glasgow climate
wetlands
talks
There was a growing realisation at COP26 that without
enabling nature to recover, including wetlands, there is no1.5° C future.

Wetlands International co-organised the first-everPeatland Pavilion, which shone a light on peatlands andpositioned us as a key player with a proven track recordin their protection and rehabilitation. We also contributed
to the first-ever Water Pavilion which helped raise theneed for better water management in tackling climatechange. Continuing our long-standing participation in
the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action— enabling collaboration between governments andcities, regions, businesses, and investors to immediately
lower emissions and increase resilience against climate
impacts — we emphasised the critical role of wetlands
in contributing to resilient water management and theincreased role for water and water-related activities in NDC
enhancement.
COP26 signalled a new beginning in the need to invest innatural climate solutions as a core part of climate action.
An Article 6 rulebook agreement was a positive step toactivate the necessary finance needed to protect nature
and wetlands, and benefit those on the frontlines of theclimate emergency while keeping global heating to below
1.5° Celsius

The Blue Lifelines for a Secure Sahel (BLiSS) initiative
brings focus on water management and accelerates
the safeguarding, restoration, and sustainable use of
the Sahel’s wetland ecosystems, including rivers, lakes,
floodplains, and deltas. In late 2021 we launched ourBlue Lifelines strategy, developed together with our core
partners CARE, International Alert, and the International
Water Management Institute. Together, we are building awider alliance in the Sahel region of government agencies,
private sector, and civil society organisations to catalysechange and achieve our ambitious goals and long-term
impact. Specifically, for 2030, we propose a goal tosafeguard and restore 20 million hectares of wetlands insix major wetland systems and four basins across the Sahel,enhancing the resilience of 10 million people to climate
risk, poverty, conflict, and displacement while benefiting
biodiversity.

In 2021, we used the strategy to raise political awarenessand endorsement for BLiSS at key events such as the 6th
Regional Committee Meeting of the Great Green Wall
Initiative and in bilateral dialogues with governments
including Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad, Niger, Ethiopia, Kenya,
and Djibouti.
For more information on Blue Lifelines for a Secure Sahel,visit: https://www.wetlands.org/casestudy/bliss/

For more information on peatland track record, visit:https://peatlands.wetlands.org/

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GLOBAL VOICESFOR WETLANDS“Marshes and other wetlands may seem
unproductive and inhospitable to humans,
but in fact they provide us with essential
services. They store carbon, give us cleanwater and food, protect us from floods, aswell as offer habitats for one in ten of theworld’s known species.”
Dr Bruno Oberle
IUCN Director Generalon the launch of IUCN Red List - Dec 2021.
https://civicrm.iucn.org/civicrm/mailing/view?id=4171&reset=1-“The shrinking availability of water andimpact on resource availability in places
like Chad contributes to the fragility of
the Sahel region. Inclusion of water andwetlands in the NDCs is important but
it’s equally important to include the link
to conflict. Communities themselves
are key to joined-up land and water
management. Bringing in the local andindigenous peoples’ knowledge is vital totransforming the landscape”
Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim
Peul Mbororo, Indigenous Women and Peoples
Association of Chad
https://www.wetlands.org/news/setting-global-targets-would-drive-investment-needed-to-scale-up-wetland-recovery-for-climate-action/

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Wetlands International Annual Review 2021

“Healthy wetland ecosystems provide
people with clean water, provide nurseries
for aquatic life upon which local
communities depend, and act as criticalcarbon sinks serving both adaptation andmitigation.”
Elizabeth Maruma Mrema
Executive Secretary, Convention on Biological
Diversity on the occasion of World Wildlife Day
https://www.wildlifeday.org/content/message-elizabeth-marumamrema-executive-secretary-general-convention-biologicaldiversity“Less than 1% of the water on Earth isusable freshwater and is mostly stored inwetlands such as rivers, streams, lakes,
marshes, estuaries, and aquifers. We are ina water crisis with profound consequences
and wetlands are at the heart of its
resolution.”
Martha Rojas Urrego
Secretary General, Ramsar Convention on
Wetlands, on the occasion ofWorld Wetlands Day 2022
https://www.ramsar.org/news/statement-by-martha-rojas-urrego-secretary-general-of-the-convention-on-wetlands-on-world-0“Why should wetlands be top of ouragenda? Because improving the way wemanage, recreate and share wetlands is
so critical that if we get it wrong, history
has proven that it can bring about disease,species extinction, mass migration andeven war. However, if we get it right,
they will continue to bring clean water,abundance of food, jobs, leisure, wildlife
experiences and greater well-being.”
Sacha Dench
Ambassador for the UN’s Convention on
Migratory Species &CEO & Founder of Conservation without Borders

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FROM THE
SUPERVISORY COUNCIL
André van der Zande, Chair (retired December 2021)

Although 2021 was dominated by the Covid-19 pandemic,
Wetlands International ended the year in a much stronger
position than we could have hoped for in January. I believe
this was due to a combination of wetlands being taken
seriously as a key part of the fight against climate change
and biodiversity collapse, as well as the skill and resilienceof the organisation’s staff in adapting to new ways ofworking and continuing to achieve results despite thelimitations.
The Council and Board of Association met regularly
in 2021, keeping close contact with the CEO andManagement Team through online meetings. Fortunately,
restrictions had eased sufficiently by November, allowing
us to meet in-person in Maastricht, Netherlands. The
location of this meeting enabled members to see at firsthand the effects of the devastating floods that hit theregion in July 2021 and how wetland restoration in theGeul valley could reduce future risks through increasing

the ‘sponginess’ of the landscape. This is a prime exampleof the role that wetlands play in building resilience against
climate change. Our thanks go to our partners ARK and
Stroming who guided us on this field visit.
In addition to its responsibility to oversee theimplementation of the organisation’s strategy, annual
accounts and the annual review, the Council and Board
of Association provided guidance to the CEO andManagement Team on a range of key issues. These included
a plan to build visibility and influence, strengthen strategic
partnerships engaged in our initiatives, create a dedicatedfundraising team, and review the organisation’s businessmodel.

2030 goals set in our Strategic Intent. On behalf of thewhole organisation, we would like to thank the COmON
Foundation for their trust in Wetlands International and the
support provided.
In 2021, we said goodbye to several members: Kathy
MacKinnon, our Vice-Chair, who retired after nine years ofservice; Carlos Saavedra due to ill health; and Ulrike Sapiro
due to her appointment in a new position. Our thanks go tothem for the support, enthusiasm and inspiration that they
provided to Wetlands International. We were also delighted
to welcome Miguel Jorge, who was appointed as a newmember to the Council and Board at the end of 2021.
Finally, December 2021 marked the end of my own term
as Chair of Wetlands International, a function which I haveheld with enormous pride since 2015. I was delighted tohand over the baton to Jan Ernst de Groot who has takenover as Chair of the organisation. I would like to wish Jan
Ernst and other members of the Supervisory Council and
Board of Association all the best in helping Wetlands
International succeed in its mission to inspire and mobilise
society to safeguard and restore wetlands for people andnature. I will be cheering loudly from the sidelines.

André van der Zande hands over the baton to Jan Ernst deGroot who has taken over as Chair of the Supervisory Council.

Wetlands International
Supervisory Council

Members were pleased to see the recognition that theorganisation is receiving at the international level, withhigh profile roles at the launch of the UN Decade on
Ecosystem Restoration in June, and at the Glasgow Climate
COP in November where the role of peatland restoration
received a major boost.
We were delighted to receive confirmation that theDutch Postcode Lottery awarded a three-year grant to theorganisation, that will build on the results achieved with
their support from 2018-2020.
The past year also saw a highly significant deepening of
our relationship with the COmON Foundation, who werealready supporting our work on mangrove restoration(To-Plant-Or-Not-To-Plant initiative), organisational
development, and in a partnership with Commonland - totest and promote the 4 Returns framework for landscaperecovery. In December, the COmON Foundation decided
to make Wetlands International a key grantee which
will enable us to accelerate our action towards the

Jan Ernst de Groot
Chair

Angeliquevan de Beeten
Member (Treasurer)

Kazuaki Hoshino
MemberEliot Taylor
MemberAdrie (A.N.) Papma
MemberMiguel Ángel Jorge
MemberAndré van der Zande
Chair

Kathy MacKinnon
Vice-Chair(joined in 2021)(joined in 2021)(retired in 2021)(retired in 2021)

Maggie White
MemberHastings Chikoko
MemberUlrike Sapiro
MemberCarlos Saavedra
Member(retired in 2021)(retired in 2021)

Field visit in Limburg, Netherlands to see at first hand theimpact of the devastating floods that hit the region in July
2021.

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Over 2020-2030 Wetlands International aims to safeguard and restore tens of
millions of hectares of wetlands, bringing multiple returns for nature and people.
Our theory of change encapsulates the three main phases of our work: to inspire,
mobilise and upscale. These are the key ingredients of our organisational strategy
for the period 2020-2030.
For this period, we are orientating our work to achieve three, interconnected global impacts: healthy wetlands, resilient
wetland communities, and reduced climate risks.
Our vision, targets and strategic interventions are shaped according to landscapes. We focus on three broad categories
of wetland landscapes: deltas and coasts, rivers and lakes, and peatlands. “Streams” of work are defined according to thespecific contexts of these wetland landscape types.

Co
as
ts
&

ds for a health
etlan
ier
w
y
wo
h
t
rld
al
e
H
s
P
e
e
k
a
a
l
tla
s
lta
de

&
ers
Riv

nds

ResilientCommunities

ReducedClimate Risks

Wetland habitats andfunctions safeguarded
and restored: We
aim to help conservea selection of the mostintact wetland ecosystems andrestore others within a full range of
wetland types across the world. We
also aim to restore other freshwater
systems, peatlands, deltas and coastal
ecosystems for their intrinsic, culturaland ecosystem-service values. We
will prioritise ecological networks thatconnect landscapes, such as flyways
and swim-ways.

Water and foodsecured for wetlandcommunities: We
aim to prevent further
wetland loss anddegradation that undermines thenatural productivity and water storage
capacities of peatlands, floodplains,mangrove forests, deltas and lakes.
We aim to improve and diversify the
livelihoods of people dependent on
wetlands, and promote best practices
in agriculture and aquaculture,
integrating wetland values into the
local economy.

Wetland carbon storessecured and enhanced:
We aim to bringwetlands into activities
to adapt to and mitigate
climate change, which is otherwise athreat to the integrity of all wetlands.
Improving the condition of peatlands,
river systems and coastal ecosystems
such as mangroves, saltmarshes andsea-grass beds will also reduce theiremissions of greenhouse gases andreturn many to their role as carbon
sinks.

Wetland species
recovered: Building on
our long track record forwaterbird conservation,
we will contribute to theconservation of wetland
biodiversity by working on selecteddslangroups
flagship speciesetandofWyspecies linked
tospecific
habitats.
thReduced societal
conflict anddisplacementfrom wetlands:
We will in particularstrive to resolve situations where
deterioration of wetlands – caused
by upstream abstraction, climatechange or population growth -contributes to loss of livelihoods,
human displacement, conflict andmigration. Where necessary, we
will use peacebuilding and conflict
resolution measures to address
imbalanced power relations between
stakeholders, building capacity forvulnerable and marginalised people
to defend their rights to water andwetland resources.

l

ced
du
Re

Healthy
Wetlands

Healthy
Wetlands

Hea

STRATEGIC INTENT
2020-2030

Climate R
isks

ResilientCommunities

Res

s&
st

nt

e

s
lta
de

ili

ReducedClimate Risks

Co

mmu niti e s

Wetland Nature-based
Solutions integrated
into infrastructuredevelopments: We
aim to steer urban water
infrastructure investment and landuse planning towards using wetlands
to meet challenges such as water
insecurity and flooding that areconventionally addressed by civilengineering – an approach that oftencauses further loss and deteriorationof wetlands.

s
and
atl
Pe

Rivers
&

lak
es

Co
a

We measure our progress across these three streams according to the following three interconnected global impacts and six outcomes.
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Wetlands International Annual Review 2021

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RICHARD HOLLAND
DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS AND NETWORK DEVELOPMENT

I am Richard Holland, Director of Operations
and Network Development – a position I
have held for three years now. Before this, I
worked with WWF, Deltares, for a GEF-funded
programme and for the European Commission.
A constant throughout my career has been adrive to create positive change for water andwetlands. Although hard to pick favourites, I am
especially proud of work I did in the Danube
River Basin in the 1990s, the results of which
are still being carried forward by governments
and NGOs in the region.
Growing up in Scotland with mountains, rivers,and moorland on my doorstep, I gained a loveof the outdoors which continued throughout
my studies and career. I enjoy working for

Wetlands International because of the passion
and expertise held by the organisation’s staff
from various parts of the world. Their ability
to liaise with partners to achieve results thatmake a difference for people, nature and our
climate, is admirable.
My current focus is on building cooperationand capacities among our network teams
to ensure that we can play a leading rolein wetland landscape regeneration thatwill provide us with positive returns forcommunities and for biodiversity. I am proudof the way that, despite the constraints of thepandemic, we worked as a team to achieve
important results, start new programmes, andattract highly qualified staff around the world.
Barnacle Geese, a migratory species which relies on Scotland’s wetlands

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ACHIEVEMENTS
This chapter presents our 2021 achievements. Our work towards achieving ourgoals set out in our Strategic Intent 2020-2030 is organised into three Streams:
Coasts and Deltas, Rivers and Lakes, and Peatlands. The section below summarises
progress in 2021 towards the 10-year targets.

All of our achievements are the result of our teams working
around the world with our many partners in local, national,
and international networks. The achievements selected
below are part of a long-term results framework and build
partly on activities already started in previous years.
We highlight those achievements where Wetlands
International’s role or contribution has been significant
and instrumental towards reaching long-term outcomes.
Despite the ongoing disruption caused by the Covid-19
pandemic in most countries, we have seen many positive
steps forward over the past year.
At the end of 2021 we are slightly behind the schedule laidout in the Strategic Intent. Nevertheless, we have achieved
important results and are confident we have a good basis
for future mobilisation and upscaling towards our 2030
targets.
Raising the profile of wetlands
We took advantage of many international events
throughout the year to promote the case for global targets
that safeguard and restore wetlands. One highlight was
the launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restorationin June 2021, where as part of the official launch event
we released The 4 Returns Framework for Landscape
Restoration: a step by step, systematic approach to bringstakeholders together to transform their landscape for four
returns: natural, financial and social returns, and the returnof inspiration. This framework offers a common language
for landscape regeneration that can help bridge thedifferent sectors and interests in any landscape and enable
collaboration for transformation over the long-term.
The Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow
provided a special focus for our work on peatlands, water
resiliency, and responsible carbon finance advocacy. With
partners we organised and successfully delivered the first20

Wetlands International Annual Review 2021

ever UNFCCC Peatland Pavilion and Water Pavilion. These
enabled us to connect with governments, companies andpartners and to create a platform that will enable us toscale up results for wetlands in the future.
As well as seeing a shift in the way wetlands are perceived
by the international community as a solution to the global
climate, biodiversity and social crises, we are proud of theresults that were achieved at regional, national and local
level.
Impact Area - Healthy Wetlands
Highlights include:• We brought together and provided technical expertiseto government partners to develop sustainable
management plans for protected areas in The Gambia,
Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, Kenya, Tanzania and Indonesia
in over 400,000 hectares (ha) of mangroves and othercoastal wetlands.
• We completed the management plan for the 380,000
ha Pozuelos UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in Argentina,
including the 7,000 ha Lagoon, a Ramsar site, in close
collaboration with governmental agencies.
• We published the high altitude wetlands manual
focusing on sustainable peatland and water
management in the Himalayan highlands, which was
welcomed by government agencies.
• We published the first State of the World’s Mangroves
Report in June 2021 with our Global Mangrove Alliancepartners, using updated data from the Global Mangrove
Watch platform.
Impact Area - Resilient Wetland Communities
Highlights include:• Government officials in China, Philippines and Indonesia
adopted our Community-based Ecological Mangrove
Restoration guidelines as part of our upscaling approachto protect coastal communities by accelerating thesustainable restoration of mangrove belts.
• We launched a three-year initiative in Eastern Africa
supported by Swedish International Development
Cooperation Agency, Source to Sea, to upscale anapproach to combat the drivers of wetland loss and theirbiodiversity, and enable community resilience in the Rift
Valley and mangrove ecoregions.
• We secured two major research projects funded throughthe EU Horizon 2020 programme to develop solutions to
influence EU policies (Common Agricultural Policy and
EU Restoration law and Carbon Farming) and promote
upscaling of peatland restoration by farmers andcommunities in Europe.
Impact Area - Reduced Climate Risks
Highlights include:• Peatlands were included in Russia’s Climate Action
Plan (NDC) as a result of inventories we compiled forsix regions totalling approximately 2.85 million ha ofpeatlands and monitored the GHG emissions according
to international standards on 40,000 ha.
• We witnessed further development of the Building
with Nature Asia initiative, a programme that seeks
to leverage investment in Nature-based Solutions toincrease the resilience of 30 million vulnerable people
in cities and settlements along vulnerable coasts
and rivers by 2030 across the continent, by engaging
government in Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia andIndia in programme design and strengthening actual
propositions for investment in selected landscapes inthe target countries.
• Working with GIZ and other partners, we secured
German government support to develop a major EUR 20
million programme for climate change adaptation andmitigation in the Niger Basin.
Wetland carbon
Wetland carbon is a rapidly developing cross-cutting
topic that is relevant to all wetland landscape types.
Over the past year, there has been a surge of interest in
the role wetland conservation and restoration can playin reducing emissions and capturing carbon, while atthe same time providing community and biodiversity
benefits. In all three Streams, we made strong progressin developing landscape propositions and best practiceguidance for using carbon financing to support action
as diverse as mangrove restoration, fire prevention, andpeatland rewetting. We also experienced a strong interestin our work on wetland carbon from finance institutions
and companies, and we collaborated more strongly with
our partners Permian Global, Boskalis, Greenchoice andRewilding Europe. In 2021, we investigated the role ofcarbon finance for wetlands – including through a standout side event at COP26 – and defined principles to ensuresocio-environmental integrity that we will advance in 2022
to unlock carbon finance for wetlands in a responsible way.

Further details of these results are provided below.
Setbacks
Not everything went according to plan in 2021. Despite
effectively adapting to working online, several of ourprogrammes have experienced delays and uncertainties
due to the ongoing global Covid-19 pandemic. For
example, the Sustainable Palm Oil Round Table (RSPO)
training course for plantation owners on “Drainage
Assessment” was postponed for a second year due tothe inability to hold face-to-face interactions. Likewise,
we were disappointed that critical global meetings for
the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Ramsar
Convention on Wetlands of International Importance had tobe postponed again.
Achievements in our three Streams
On the following pages, we report on our 2021
achievements in more detail and provide the progress
results we have made in each Stream toward our 2030
targets.

OUR
SCORINGSYSTEMOn track to exceed
target (we willachieve the target
before 2030)

We expect toachieve the target
by 2030

Substantial
progress, but moretime is needed toreach our target

So far, there is no
significant overall
progress

The situation isdeteriorating andwe can’t manage tomake improvements

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COASTS & DELTAS
2030 GLOBAL GOAL
Our goal is to safeguard and restore
coastal wetland ecosystems as
essential features of resilient andproductive coastal landscapes. We
will achieve our goal by tailoring
our work to the different contexts
we typically encounter in ourtarget areas, ranging from heavily
degraded or modified coastal areas
to intact wetland landscapes.

Coasts & Deltas

Healthywetlands
For protected areas in The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Senegal,
Kenya, Tanzania and Indonesia we supported government
partners to develop plans for sustainable management ofover 400,000 ha of mangroves and other coastal wetlands.
In the development of these plans, we facilitated the
involvement of community groups and other stakeholders.
Currently, we are connecting these ‘landscape partners’
to collectively scale up conservation, restoration andlivelihood interventions.
Through the To-Plant-Or-Not-To-Plant initiative, we
restored 758 ha of mangroves using Ecological Mangrove
Restoration principles, and attracted significant upscaling
investment interest in Guinea-Bissau, Philippines, andIndonesia. We took initial steps to develop landscapescale restoration and management plans that will
ultimately result in the restoration of tens of thousandsof ha worldwide. This includes restoring 2,500 ha in
Guinea-Bissau with support from our corporate partner
Greenchoice to achieve climate, community, andbiodiversity impact.
We published the first State of the World’s Mangroves
report in June 2021 with our Global Mangrove Alliancepartners, using updated data from the Global Mangrove

Watch (GMW) platform. This report and GMW are key
elements in our upscaling strategy to safeguard mangroves
beyond activities in which we are directly involved, andto support policymakers and practitioners in planning,monitoring, and managing mangrove and related policies.
We developed and implemented a blue carbon site
selection process, and we prepared pre-feasibility
assessments for blue carbon landscapes in Panama,
Colombia, Indonesia, and Malaysia with corporate partners,
along with dialogues on responsible carbon financing
according to the mitigation hierarchy.
We supported the government of South Korea with thelisting of the 128,411 ha Getbol, Korean tidal flats undercriteria of the World Heritage Convention. The site wasofficially added to the World Heritage List by UNESCO in
July 2021, strengthening its protection status and stepping
up conservation efforts and future investment.
We joined forces with the East Asian-Australasian Flyway
Partnership to help government partners in the Yellow Sea
adopt conservation and restoration guidance of intertidal
wetlands.
We worked with stakeholders to highlight the relevance ofadopting the Paraná Delta Biodiversity Corridor Strategy
which includes over 30 protected private and publicareas that enable corridors for wildlife. The National
Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development
has incorporated the strategy within their priorities for the
Paraná Delta.

By 2030, we aim to safeguard 2
million hectares of high value
coastal wetlands, including thosesites which make up vital wildlife
migration corridors.

With 9 years remaining until 2030, we already haveopportunities under development and concrete plansto restore and safeguard approximately 1.5 million haand have initial leads to expand our work in additionalcountries

Coasts & Deltas

Resilientwetlandcommunities
We supported government partners in China, Philippines,
and Indonesia to adopt guidelines for Ecological Mangrove
Restoration as part of their strategies that will ultimately
drive restoration of over 500,000 ha. This will support ashift from often unsuccessful mass-planting approaches
to more inclusive community-based restoration strategies
than can be scaled up across coastal landscapes.
We provided technical support to the official drafting ofa Regulatory Decree for Victoria´s Multiple Use Reserve
Planning Committee in support of the Paraná Delta
wetland conservation (272,000 ha). This builds on earlier
activities with local stakeholders to adapt island cattle
raising, tourism, and real estate development so that ithelps restore habitats for fishing, beekeeping, marsh deer,
capybara, and emblematic migratory birds.
With key funding from the Swedish International
Development Cooperation Agency we launched a threeyear initiative called Source to Sea in Eastern Africa.
This aims to upscale approaches to combat the driversof wetland and biodiversity loss, in the Rift valley lakes
and Eastern Africa mangrove ecoregions. The areas
comprised are the Ziway-Shalla sub-basin in Ethiopia andthe Omo-Turkana basins spreading across a large part ofsouthwestern Ethiopian highlands and northern Kenya. The
Lamu land and seascape covers an area of 627,310 ha andextends from the Kenya-Somali border to the Tana River
with mangrove coverage of 60,000 ha; and the Rufiji Delta
comprising the wider Rufiji, Mafia, Kilwa seascape, which
represents 70% of Tanzania’s mangroves covering a totalof 54,000 ha and internationally significant intertidal areasand coral reefs.
In Guinea-Bissau, we developed plans to reinforce
wetlands-dependent community livelihoods in the Cacheu
National Park (88,064 ha), the Cantanhez National Park
(120,987 ha) and their respective buffer zones, and we aim
to further expand this work in the proposed Jeta-PecixeCacheu landscape (423,475 ha).

By 2030, we aim to integrate
wetlands into 8 million hectaresof coastal production systems.

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Wetlands International Annual Review 2021

Two years into our strategic intent, we already madesignificant progress towards the definition of landscape/seascape development plans, which will drive theintegration of sustainable production of wetlandcommodities into the broader supply chain of agriculture
and aquaculture products, enhancing community
resilience

Coasts & Deltas

Reducedclimate risks
We continued the development of the Building with
Nature Asia initiative, a programme that seeks to leverage
investment in Nature-based Solutions to increase theresilience of 30 million vulnerable people in cities andsettlements along vulnerable coasts and rivers by 2030
across the continent. We engaged government actors inIndonesia, Philippines, Malaysia and India in sessions todesign the programme and continued with the finetuningof actual propositions for investment in selected
landscapes in the target countries.
Together with other Global Mangrove Alliance members,
we started the development of a set of guidelines onmangrove restoration. These consolidate existing highquality guidance and include modules covering different
restoration targets, including carbon sequestration,
coastal defence, sustainable aquaculture development,
and fisheries enhancement. The modules seek to promotelarge-scale adoption of ecological mangrove restoration
principles.

By 2030, we aim to mainstream
Building with Nature and promote
blue carbon solutions, influencing
EUR 10 billion of investments incoastal infrastructure solutions.

Inspired by our work on ecological mangrove restoration
and Building with Nature, we received significant
attention from the private sector, providing numerous
opportunities for (carbon) investment toward wetland
restoration

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RIVERS & LAKES
2030 GLOBAL GOAL
Our goal is to catalyse investment tosafeguard and restore rivers, lakes
and their accompanying wetlands,
as part of wider freshwater systems;
and to provide water security
for people and nature, climate
resilience, and sustainable andpeaceful landscapes.

We started the preparation of a comprehensive integrated
management plan for three sub-basins of the Ganges
River under the government-led National Mission for a
Clean Ganges initiative. The three sub-basins span an areaof nearly 1.9 million ha. We analysed over 280 wetlandsin this basin and prepared 275 wetland health cards,
which help government and other stakeholders prioritize
responses to immediate threats and identify priority areas
for future conservation efforts within these wetlands.

By 2030, we aim to safeguard 10
million hectares of high value riverand lake wetlands, focusing on fivebasins.

Rivers & Lakes

Healthywetlands
In the Ziway-Shalla Basin in Ethiopia, we piloted 1,000 haof landscape restoration and buffer zone establishment toshowcase how these measures contribute to improving thehealth of Lake Ziway.
We established transboundary wetlands management
committees for the implementation of management plans
for the Sango Bay-Minziro (endorsed by governmentsof Uganda and Tanzania) and Semliki (endorsed bygovernments of Uganda and DRC) transboundary wetlands
as part of the Nile Equatorial Lakes Technical Advisory
Committee (NEL-TAC).
We completed management plans and started
implementation in the Pantanal and the Paraná Delta,
improving the productive management and restoration of
more than 1.3 million ha of protected wetlands.
We completed the management plan for the 380,000
ha Pozuelos UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, including the7,000 ha Lagoon - a Ramsar site - in close collaboration
with Argentinian governmental agencies in charge of sitemanagement.
We secured an investment by Greenchoice for fire
prevention and management in 20,000 ha of a key
Pantanal landscape to reduce emissions and achievecommunity and biodiversity impacts. This project allows us
to explore upscaling strategies through carbon finance.

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Wetlands International Annual Review 2021

Significant programmes in major wetland landscapes intarget basins and beyond have been set in motion withupscaling plans underway

Rivers & Lakes

in three major wetland landscapes (Sourou Valley, Mali; Lac
Wegnia, Mali; Ziway Shalla, Ethiopia). The approaches will
ultimately drive more sustainable water use and facilitate
wetland restoration across these major Sahelian wetland
systems.

scheme. This new fund was used to pilot a model forbasin restoration which combats downstream flooding
through innovative community-led reforestation (so-called‘rainforestation’) and has so far brought back 60 ha offorest in the Cagayan de Oro river basin of the Philippines.

We worked with farmers and landowners to ensure
more than 33,000 ha of wetlands are under better cattle
ranching practices in the Paraná Delta and Pantanal.

We raised awareness and secured endorsement for theBlue Lifelines for a Secure Sahel initiative from civil society,
African governments and intergovernmental bodies,including the World Bank, UNCCD, the EU, and the African
Union’s Commission for the Great Green Wall Initiative as aresult of the Climate Adaptation Summit and participationin African Union and Sahel G5 meetings.

As coordinators of the Wetlands Task Force under thegovernment-led Latin American Initiative 20x20 for
Ecosystem Restoration, we initiated a governmental
dialogue to promote and enable wetland restoration within
the region. One million ha will be restored and protected
through forest management and sustainable livestockpractices in Argentina (and 50m ha in the Latin America &Caribbean region) by 2030.
We brought attention to the potential of upland wetlands
or “natural sponges” to retain peak floodwaters in
the aftermath of the floods in Belgium, Luxembourg,
Germany, and Netherlands. The research, advocacy andcommunications we undertook with partners has led tothe concept now being embedded in the EU Strategy on
Adaptation to Climate Change and in the EU Guidance on
Barrier Removal for River Restoration.

Resilientwetlandcommunities
We launched a three-year initiative called Source to
Sea in East Africa, with key funding from the Swedish
International Development Cooperation Agency. This aims
to upscale approaches to combat the drivers of wetland
and biodiversity loss in Eastern Africa mangrove and Rift
Valley ecoregions. In the Rift Valley this includes a focus
on unsustainable agricultural practices, in the Ziway-Shalla(1.5 million ha) and Omo-Gibe-Turkana (14.6 million ha)basins.
We set up five micro-catchment committees, endorsed
by government in the Agago River catchment, Uganda(60,000 ha). The committees provide local direction andcoordination on basin-wide water management to help
build resilience to disaster risk.
In the Sahel, we piloted and supported the adoption
and scaling of innovative agricultural land and water
management approaches by communities across 3,500ha

By 2030, we aim to safeguard
and restore 60 million hectaresof wetland as integral elements
of productive river and lakelandscapes.

We have made good progress establishing and consolidating programmes in major productive landscapes but
need to accelerate this process to be able to realise ourgoal of 60mha.

Rivers & Lakes

Reducedclimate risks
Together with Vitens, a large fruit plantation company, theCagayan de Oro Basin Council, business and upstream
communities, we started a Payment for Ecosystem Services

In collaboration with GIZ, IUCN, IWMI, BBC Media Action,and the Potsdam Institute, we gained approval from theGerman government to develop a major EUR 20 million
climate mitigation and adaptation programme in the Niger
Basin. The programme will support the Basin authority
and the riparian states to improve implementation oftransboundary Integrated Water Resource Management
measures in the Niger Basin.
We prepared a guidebook for the management ofhigh-altitude wetlands, as part of the UNDP Secure
Himalayas Project, which was endorsed by the Ministry ofEnvironment and Climate Change in India. This guidebook
will be used in the National Mission on Himalayan Studies
project in the states of Himachal Pradesh, Ladakh andSikkim.
By engaging key EU decision makers including thePresidency led by Slovenia, we promoted the role ofwetlands within the water peace and security nexus. As
a result, the Council conclusions on Water in the EU’s
external action (Nov. 2021) emphasise the essential roleof conserving and restoring aquatic ecosystems, notably
wetlands, to foster human development, to protect
biological diversity, to reduce water pollution, and toenhance climate action in line with the European Green
Deal and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

By 2030, we aim that EUR 500
million is committed to enable
Nature-based Solutions infreshwater wetlands, for climate
mitigation and adaptation.

Although good progress is being made, we needto accelerate our progress in our target productive
landscapes to be able to make the case to leverage theanticipated target.

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PEATLANDS
2030 GLOBAL GOAL
Our goal is to scale up theconservation and restoration ofpeatlands as a contribution tobiodiversity conservation, climatechange mitigation and adaptation,and sustainable development.
For this, it is vital to ensure that
all remaining undrained peatlands
stay intact, while 50 million hectaresof drained peatland are restored
by 2050.

Peatlands

Healthywetlands
In November 2021, we successfully co-organised theinaugural Peatland Pavilion at UNFCCC COP26 where
we launched our Peatland track record. We advocatedfor the inclusion of peatlands in National Climate Actionplans towards governments, international organisations
and financial institutions. We progressed discussions
on principles to ensure socio-environmental integrity inunlocking carbon finance for wetlands.
Our partners Global Peatland Initiative and Greifswald Mire
Centre published the Global Peatland Map 2.0 (unep.org)
which includes spatial data from Wetlands International
projects in Europe and the Nile Basin, which has helped
target countries with significant peatland resource forprotection and management (Russia, Ireland, Scotland
and Mongolia) and facilitated the inclusion of peatland ingovernments’ Climate Action plans.
In Europe, we influenced the drafting of the EU Nature
Restoration law which will set legally binding restoration
targets which is anticipated to include wetlands outside ofprotected sites, when it is published later in 2022.

By 2030, we aim to safeguard over
20 million hectares of high value
peatlands, including bringing 5
major peatland landscapes backinto good ecological condition.

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Wetlands International Annual Review 2021

While we have made progress in engaging with countries
and started setting up landscape-scale safeguarding andrestoration projects, we have not yet reached the scale
to deliver 20m ha by 2030. We expect to accelerate from2024 onwards.

Peatlands

Resilientwetlandcommunities
We developed successful pre-feasibility assessments forcommunity-based peatland restoration in Peru (153,000
ha around Lake Junin) and Mongolia (30,000 ha acrossthe country) involving improved grazing management to
reduce emissions, leading to funding from Greenchoicefor developing landscape propositions for restoration. For
Peru’s Lake Junin, we started to build on the successful
restoration of 172 ha of high-altitude peatlands (bofedales)that was completed in 2021.
With Rewilding Europe, local partners, communities andfarmers, we developed carbon landscape propositions forpeatland restoration in the Oder Delta in Poland (1,300 haout of 41,000 ha potential) as well as in the Norrbotten
district in Sweden (19,000 ha of 200,000 ha potential),
resulting in pre-investments enabling us to explore
upscaling.

We secured two major research projects funded throughthe EU Horizon 2020 programme that will create long-termsustainable land management solutions and establish aprioritisation framework for governments and decisionmakers. These research projects are designed to influence
EU policies (Common Agricultural Policy and EU Restoration
law and Carbon Farming) and provide a strong basis for
upscaling of peatland restoration by farmers and ruralcommunities in Europe.
As a result of our advocacy efforts, the EU is now shifting
its stance and accepting the significant role that improved
peatland protection, increased paludiculture (wet peatland
farming) and carbon farming can bring to the Green Deal
implementation. Including these aspects in the Common
Agriculture Policy is key for upscaling since it will drive thelargest farm-subsidy stream in Europe and help ensure thatpeatlands are recognised in the new EU Carbon Farming
initiative.

By 2030, we aim to enablecommunity-based conservation
and restoration of 10 million
hectares of peatlands.

Significant projects with a built-in upscaling mechanism
are underway and on track to deliver the outcome by2030, coupled with a strong EU policy to drive action atscale in Europe.

Peatlands

Reducedclimate risks
In Russia (PeatRus project), we completed inventories
for six regions totalling approximately 2.85 million haof peatlands. We also monitored the greenhouse gas
emissions to Verified Carbon Standard for 40,000 ha.
Both initiatives have resulted in peatlands being includedin Russia’s Climate Action plan (NDC) and are expected
to trigger investments in reducing CO2 emission frompeatlands.
Covid-19 restrictions prevented the delivery of theRoundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) Drainability
Assessment training in Asia – the activity should restart in
2022. Once completed, the training has the potential toinfluence practices on 4.5M ha of plantations under the
RSPO scheme.
During COP26 and other events, we used the 2021 Ramsar
guidelines for peatland rewetting and restoration to raiseawareness of the need to restore 50 million ha of drained
peatlands globally by 2050 to meet the 1.5° Celcius
target. This 50x50 target provides the basis for action tocounter peatland drainage associated with the productionof commodities such as palm oil and pulp/fibres, anddrainage infrastructure for engineering.

By 2030, we will reduce theimpact of peat-based industriesin 10 million hectares ofpeatland, with a focus on palmoil, pulp, and timber.

Although progress is being made, the postponement due
to Covid-19 of the RSPO Drainability Assessment training
in Asia means we are behind schedule.

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WORKING THROUGHPARTNERSHIPS TOACCELERATE WETLAND
RECOVERY
By Fred Pearce

The swampy coastal backwaters of Guinea-Bissau – a West
African country the size of Belgium or Taiwan, are an ecologicaltreasure – home to one of the largest areas of mangroves on thecontinent. But much has been lost, so in April 2021, Wetlands
International launched a new project, funded by Dutch energy
company, Greenchoice, to nurture their restoration.
Mangroves surround the “ecological treasure” that are Guinea Bissau’s coastal backwaters.
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29

Wetlands Nature Reserve, Esteros del Iberá, Colonia Carlos Pel, is a bird watchingparadise. On 12 August, 2021, the first birdwatching centre of the Iberá Wetlands
was inaugurated in Corrientes, Argentina.

Instead of mangrove planting, we are employing arounda thousand villagers to remove dikes and allow 2,500
hectares of mangroves to establish naturally on recently
abandoned rice fields. The gains for biodiversity and local
livelihoods will be considerable. The restoration could also
secure a million tonnes of CO2 in the next 30 years, andGreenchoice has pledged not to claim any carbon credits,so cementing the climate gains.

2021 was a rich year for such collaborations.

The project is one item in our growing portfolio of projects
for wetlands conservation and restoration built aroundinnovative partnerships with corporate funders andgovernments, NGOs and philanthropists, international
agencies and local communities.

The launching publication showcased our work with Indian
communities over three decades to restore the catchmentof Lake Chilika. Building on this, and supported by the
COmON Foundation, a private charitable fund, we also
embarked on a programme of collaboration to acceleratelarge-scale regeneration in a portfolio of landscapes.

Whether creating sanctuaries for migratory birds in
China or preventing fires in the Pantanal wetland ofSouth America, restoring coastal ecosystems acrossSoutheast Asia or improving water management aroundthe oases, lakes and inland deltas of the Sahel, we
believe partnerships accelerate and scale up our work, byaccessing more funds and growing our influence over wider
policymaking and corporate culture.

In March, we became an official supporting partner ofthe new UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, andunveiled with the NGOs Commonland and the LandscapeFinance Lab, the 4 Returns Framework, a methodology forlandscape regeneration that connects ecology, community
values and economic sustainability for long-term resilience.

Villagers assist in building and maintaining brushwood
barriers along the coast of Java, with assistance from
Wetlands International. Such actions reduce the risk
of future flooding in the region.

“Greenchoice is excited to partnerwith Wetlands International for
restoration projects in wetland
ecosystems. Wetlands International
provides the right mix of in-depth
knowledge and action on the
ground. During our cooperation
we’ve come to realize, more andmore, how important functioning
wetlands are in sustaining the waterand carbon cycles, on which ourplanet and species depend.”

In May, we joined with China’s National Forestry
and Grassland Administration (NFGA) and provincial
governments, on a new initiative to manage and restore
wetlands used as stopovers by birds migrating along thecountry’s east coast. Financed by the Global Environment
Facility, the initiative dovetails with our existing work with
the NFGA to protect bird-rich wetlands around the Yellow
Sea from coastal development.

Ruben Veefkind
Head of Sustainability andNature-based Solutions, Greenchoice30

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“The COmON Foundation sees
Wetlands International as an
influential, while not yet highly
visible, organisation with decadesof experience and specific expertisein conserving and restoring wetland
ecosystems. We like that the teamworks with partners with a longterm vision and local presence.
With our support, we hope they canquickly become even more effective
and stronger in capacity to scale up- to accelerate the regeneration of
biodiverse, liveable landscapes theworld over with their partners.”

Landscapeapproaches
work best withlong-term
commitments,
community
support andcollaborations
that break silos.

The Oder Delta, Poland.

Satellite image of Guinea-Bissau’s coast.

John Loudon
Executive Director COmON Foundation

In July, with local Argentinian environmental partners
FARN and Fundacion Yuchan, we began a campaign toprotect salt flats and their flamingos in the high Andes ofArgentina, Chile and Bolivia from giant mines intended to
extract lithium to make batteries for electric vehicles. One
mine site in northwest Argentina will cover 700 square
kilometres. The campaign aims to raise environmental
standards and ensure effective regulation in the remotemountains. It builds on our long-standing project with thesame partners to protect the high Andean wetlands fromdestructive pastoral and agricultural activities. That work
will be in vain if, as we fear, the mines pollute freshwater
wetlands and dry out the land by lowering water tables.
And in December, we joined CARE Netherlands, theInternational Water Management Institute and others inactivating the Blue Lifelines for a Secure Sahel (BLiSS)
initiative. This harnesses our expertise working in Mali’s
Inner Niger Delta to mobilize government agencies,
the private sector and civil society to improving water
management across the Sahel. We hope it will ultimately
restore 20 million hectares of life-giving wetlands.

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Wetlands International Annual Review 2021

To make conservation work across whole landscapes
requires long-term commitment, community supportand intergovernment and agency collaborations that are
rare in conventional compartmentalised environment ordevelopment projects. We believe we bring expertise inmobilising such endeavours.
One such is the Corredor Azul project, launched in 2018
to protect freshwater ecosystems along the La Plata river
basin. Flowing through Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina
and Uruguay, it is the second largest drainage system in
Latin America. Threats include numerous hydroelectricdams in and around the giant Pantanal wetland, farm andforestry expansion in the Iberá Marshes, and Buenos Aires
extending into the Paraná delta.
Supported by DOB Ecology, a Dutch family fund, andwith local partners, the initial ten-year project is urging
governments to promote economic development that will
maintain natural river flows and secure a million hectaresof wetlands. In August, it launched South America’s largest
birdwatching centre in the Iberá marshes, raising the
profile of one of Argentina’s best but least known wildlife
sanctuaries.

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33

The project, which concluded in 2021, has now handed
ownership of the barriers to our villager partners.
Meanwhile, the government is replicating the approachacross Indonesia, and we are working with them, the AsianDevelopment Bank, Ecoshape, and others to help other
Asian countries to adopt the Building with Nature approachto tackling water risks along vulnerable coasts.

Fish traps stand in line along the Mayo Dembé,
near Mopti, Mali. With partners, our continued
work through the BLiSS initiative will ensure water
management is sustained for thriving ecosystems
and the communities reliant on their services.

On a similar trans-national scale, we have joined otherNGOs, including Rewilding Europe and WWF, in the Dam
Removal Europe partnership, which in October joined with
the London-based Arcadia Fund to launch a EUR 42 million
Open Rivers Programme to tear down obsolete dams andweirs that fragment rivers and block wildlife passage. We
have a big task – there are half a million such barriers
across the continent’s rivers, one every two kilometres.
We team up with other NGOs for global campaigns, too.
With IUCN, WWF and others, we coordinate the Global
Mangrove Alliance, aimed at increasing mangrove habitatby 20 percent this decade. We also work with Aberystwyth
University in Wales on Global Mangrove Watch, a remotesensing tool that gathers real-time data on new threats
to existing mangroves. July saw the publication of its firstState of the World’s Mangroves report.
Similarly, we are a founder of the Global Peatland Initiative,
working with scientists at the Greifswald Mire Centre andthe London-based conservation investment firm Permian
Global. We helped Permian draw up standards for carbon
accounting in peatlands, and in 2021 this enabled Permian
to sell carbon credits generated by our work protecting
and restoring 150,000 hectares of peat-swamp forests

We hope ourwork in the Sahel
will ultimately
restore 20
million hectaresof life-giving
wetlands.

But whatever the scale of our projects, we believethat none will work without full buy-in from the local
communities most connected with – and dependent on –wetlands.
In Java, our staff spent over a year in local communities,
designing the brushwood barriers project, before work
began. Villagers did most of the work, and received training
and other benefits under our Bio-rights payments system,
which offers loans for community development projects
that are written off on successful completion of agreed
work.

“At the onset of the UN Decade on
Ecosystem Restoration in 2021,
the plans and commitments
are there. Restoration is an idea
whose time has come; investingin land restoration is generally
economically profitable, sociallyacceptable and environmentally
desirable.”https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/
countries-commit-restore-global-land-area-sizechina

Bio-rights has underpinned our work with community
organisations across the world for several years now. Our
experience shows that it creates mutual respect that helps
secure success by combining ecological, communal andlivelihood benefits. For us, the resilience of communities isultimately inseparable from ecosystem resilience.

in Katingan, Central Kalimantan. This work won the 2021
Energy Global Award for our local management partner,
Rimba Makmur Utama.
International environment agreements give us further
avenues for collaboration. We are official partners of
the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, and an associate
member of the NDC Partnership, providing parties to theParis Climate Agreement with expertise to make wetlands
conservation and restoration part of their Nationally
Determined Contributions to mitigate and adapt to climatechange.

Ibrahim Thiaw
Under-Secretary-General and Executive
Secretary of the United Nations
Convention to Combat Desertification(UNCCD)We also work with engineers – collaborating for instancewith Dutch dredging company Boskalis within Ecoshape,a consortium developing natural methods of coastalmanagement. Our flagship Building with Nature Project has
been fighting coastal flooding on the Indonesian island of
Java. It has worked with local communities and government
to install shoreline brushwood barriers to trap silt in which
mangrove seeds can take hold. This is improving coastal
protection, restoring coastal ecosystems and reviving
marine fisheries and aquaculture along 20 kilometres ofshore, and has aided more than 10,000 people.

Miranda do Douro Dam, Portugal.
On the Douro River alone, there are over 1,200 barriers.
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35

APRI SUSANTO ASTRA

IBRAHIMA SADIO FOFANACOORDINATOR NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS PROGRAMMEADVOCACY OFFICER FOR THE BLUE LIFELINES FOR A
SECURE SAHEL (BLISS) INITIATIVE

My name is Apri Susanto Astra. I am currently working at Wetlands International
Indonesia as the Coordinator of the Nature-based Solutions Programme. This is part of
Building with Nature Indonesia, which has been ongoing since 2015, bringing about
various proud achievements as well as invaluable challenges and lessons for future
improvement.
I think going forward, to make our voices heard at big conferences, such as COPs, weneed more cutting-edge communication products to explain our work and tell ourstory. It would be even better if community representatives could speak directly at
the conferences. To reach our 2030 targets, my team and I will continue to work with
communities, while carrying out our respective roles. Collectively, we should attempt
to invite more parties to be involved in wetland conservation activities, especially inIndonesia, and at global level.
On a personal level, I like outdoor activities, such as going to the sea, or camping in
the mountains; this is complemented by my desire to be involved in preserving nature.
Working with Wetlands International has given me that opportunity, and I discovered
my passion for working with communities on nature conservation.

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Wetlands International Annual Review 2021

I’m Ibrahima Sadio Fofana – a trained socio-anthropologist. Since March 2021, I havebeen an advocacy officer for the Blue Lifelines for a Secure Sahel (BLiSS) initiative.
I have 15 years of experience working with local and international NGOs and haveworked in many regions in Mali: Mopti, Gao, Koulikoro, Kayes, and Bamako. I joined
Wetlands International in 2011 as a Field Coordinator, in charge of dialogue andstrengthening projects for CSOs in Mali and West Africa. My ambition is to aid in thechallenges of rural development, conservation, and restoration of natural resources
to benefit wetland communities and their ecosystems. The field of work within
Wetlands International is precise – it is all about “wetlands”. This is unique because it
gives a clear orientation and has motivated me to stay within the network and share
my experience and skills. The work of Wetlands International is different because
it promotes all aspects of biodiversity. We mobilise resources to enable people
to become resilient in the face of climate challenges. Wetlands International also
advocates for better conservation of nature and continues to provide services for the
benefit of all.
My greatest success in 2021 was the opening of the agencies with the Great Green
Wall of Mali, Chad, Niger and the coordination of the Commission of the Great Green
Wall to accompany the BLiSS initiative; with the African climate week as a highlightto this commitment: I co-organised a virtual side event for promoting BLiSS andgenerated supportive pledges. The advocacy work I do influences policy, practice,and investments in wetlands and will help to keep healthy wetlands for future
generations. I will continue to contribute to the mobilisation of financial resources
and work with key players for the implementation of the BLiSS objectives by making
visible what we are doing during forums, conferences, bilateral meetings, andadvocacy events.

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WETLANDS AND NATURE
TAKE COP26 CENTRE STAGE
By Fred Pearce

Nature finally took centre stage in UN climate negotiations
at November’s COP26 event in Glasgow, Scotland.
The carbon-storage capacity of wetlands came to the fore,
as delegates from around the world considered afresh how they
could limit climate change at or near 1.5° Celsius
of warming – a target set in Paris, seven years prior.

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39

With peatlands storing twice as muchcarbon as the world’s forests, wetlands
must be at the centre of the narrative on
how we can meet our global climate goals.

Few in Glasgow any longer doubted that boosting theability of ecosystems to capture and hold on to carbon wasan essential adjunct to halting greenhouse-gas emissions
from industrial activities. But many countries were still
struggling to draw up plans for advancing their own“Nature-based Solutions”.

COP26 took place near some of Europe’s most importantand carbon-rich peat bogs, including the Flow Country,
which is often called the most intact and extensive blanket
bog system in the world. The Scottish hosts embraced thatproximity with a commitment to restore a quarter-million
hectares of its degraded peatlands by 2030.

Wetlands International played a significant role at theevent by plugging the gaps in national expertise, while
placing ourselves prominently in growing global efforts
in wetlands conservation and restoration. With support
from the Dutch National Postcode Lottery, we were in
Glasgow nurturing relationships with governments, NGOs,
and finance institutions to advance the learning process
and assist in mainstream policy initiatives to protect andrestore wetlands.

A popular venue on the conference fringe was the Peatland
Pavilion, which we organised along with the Global
Peatlands Initiative, UN Environment Programme (UNEP),
Succow Stiftung, Greifswald Mire Centre, IUCN Peatlands
Programme, National Trust for Scotland and Universityof East London. The Pavilion contained a water droplet
structure built out of reeds gathered from peatlands, and a
3D virtual pavilion with more than 200 exhibits, streamed
online in 22 languages. It was attended in person by morethan 20 ministers and high-level participants. Additionally,
45 sessions were held on everything from conservation
finance to the science of peatlands as carbon megastores,
sharing field work and best practice for restoration withgovernments, donors, and companies. The virtual Pavilion
lives on as a permanent online resource.

Forests have long been seen as part of a solution forgreenhouse-gas emissions. However, the conference’s
location in Scotland helped raise the profile of wetlands
alongside forests as Nature-based Solutions. In particular, ithighlighted the role of peatlands, which we have pioneeredin putting on the international climate change agenda.

Wetlands Internatinal’s CEO Jane Madgwick speaking with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau,
Global Center on Adaptation

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41

“Water is
not just a
victim of theclimate crisis,
it is central tosolving climatechange”- CEO Jane
Madgwick
Cinthia Soto, Senior Advocacy Officer at Wetlands
International, and peatlands experts visit Flanders Moss
National Nature Reserve north of Glasgow, one of the largest
remaining intact raised bogs in Britain.
One event launched a global peatlands mapping initiative,
intended to be used in a forthcoming Global Peatlands
Assessment. This assists countries with large peatland
resources and significant greenhouse gas emissions.
Consecutively, a Memorandum of Understanding was
signed between Scotland and Chile to collaborate onprotecting their respective peatlands, discussions took
place on the development of a new European Peatlands
Initiative and Germany unveiled its national peatlands
strategy.
Several nations in the Nile Basin firmed up commitmentsin their climate pledges, known formally as Nationally
Determined Contributions (NDCs), to include protectionof peatlands such as South Sudan’s giant Sudd swamp.
Meanwhile, Canada committed to increasing protection of
its own rich peatland resources.
However, some attendees warned that many nations
have a long way to go to fulfil their pledges. Canada, forinstance, has a quarter of the world’s peatlands, including
the Hudson Bay Lowlands, which alone contains theequivalent to 175 years of the country’s greenhouse gas
emissions. Yet currently only a tenth of those peatlands

are in protected areas, and many are threatened by mining
developments.
Wetlands International also brought expertise to water
issues. At the Water Pavilion, in collaboration with theStockholm International Water Institute and partners,
we underlined how wetlands are critical to the better
water management in landscapes that we need as part ofadapting to climate change. “Water is not just a victim of
the climate crisis, it is central to solving climate change”
said CEO Jane Madgwick.
During the conference, delegates made two important
breakthroughs for wetlands. First, several countries,
particularly in the tropics, included wetlands protection
and restoration in their NDCs for the first time. Most
notable were Peru, which during 2021 banned commercial
exploitation of peatlands; the Democratic Republic of theCongo, where vast swamp peatlands were discovered lessthan a decade ago within the Lac Télé Community Reserve;
and Indonesia, which sees keeping its peatswamp forests
wet as the key to preventing forest fires.

Jane Madgwick, CEO, speaks live on Al Jazeera about wetlands as a solution to climate change.
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43

Wetlands International delegation at the Peatland Pavilion.

CINTHIA SOTOSENIOR CLIMATE CHANGE ADVOCACY OFFICER

Second, negotiators reached agreement on Article 6, theessential rulebook for voluntary international cooperation,
including carbon trading under the Paris Agreement. By
providing a UN-approved pathway to help governments
reach their NDCs, including through the involvement of
non-states actors, there is now an enabling environment
for wetlands conservation and restoration that should help
unlock public and private finance.

I am Cinthia Soto – I am Costa Rican, but have lived in the Netherlands for nine years. As
Senior Climate Change Advocacy Officer with Wetlands International, I have the privilege
to work within an exciting international environment. I’ve had many opportunities
to connect with people from different cultures, backgrounds and walks of life. Also, I
support the goals of Wetlands International as an organisation, and I value the balance
between what needs to be done, and what we can actually do about it. We do provide
solutions to the challenges we identify - we do not just stay at the finger-pointing stage,
we go far beyond that as solution builders, conveners, and partners.

Besides the vital importance of wetlands in mitigatingclimate change, there was also a growing recognition in
Glasgow that wetlands can help countries and communities
adapt to climate change through buffering the impact ofdroughts, floods, storms and rising sea levels. This role
has yet to be reflected in international climate funding.
UNEP estimates that only about one percent of total
climate finance has gone into nature-based adaptation, andwetlands received only a fraction of that.

In my current position, I work to increase the role of wetlands in climate change action.
I promote Nature-based Solutions, support capacity development internally andexternally, and promote policies that can increase funding for wetlands, all of whichhave an impact on our 2030 targets. I am pleased to say that I led our involvement in the
UNFCCC/COP26 in Glasgow, where we organised our Peatland Pavilion, and increased
visibility by actively engaging with our partners and other environmental organisations.

The bad news is that wetlands are still being lost fasterthan any other ecosystems worldwide. The good news isthat the commitments made by governments in Glasgow
could quickly change that.

While we recognise that transformational change is necessary, we understand that there
is no perfect solution to the environmental challenges that we are currently facing, as
problems are often interlinked. At Wetlands International, we contribute from different
angles, we test solutions on the ground and we propose evidence-based policies. We are
not going to reach targets for the conservation and restoration of wetlands in isolation we need to work with governments, the private sector, financial institutions, NGOs, andother relevant bodies.

For more information on our work at COP26,
visit: https://www.wetlands.org/cop26/

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45

Wetlands
International
Offices

6
4
5
20

17

14
7

1

8

1. Latin America & Caribbean Panama
2. Brazil
3. Latin American & Caribbean Argentina
4. Global oﬃce

2

5. Europe

9

18
10

15 16

12

19

11
13

6. Russia
7. West Africa Coastal
8. Guinea-Bissau
9. Sahel3

10. Ethiopia
11. Uganda
12. Eastern Africa
13. Tanzania
14. South Asia
15. Malaysia
16. Brunei
17. China
18. Philippines
19. Indonesia
20. Japan
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Wetlands International Annual Review 2021

Wetlands International Annual Review 202147

Views from theWaters Edge
We asked three prominent
independent experts toassess where the world
stands at the end of 2021
on wetlands and climatechange. Here are their
responses.

Ting Wang
is a youth advocate forwetlands and a landscaperesearcher at The Universityof Hong Kong

breed in wetlands, including rivers, mangroves, peatlands,
and tidal mudflats. Wetlands stabilize coastlines, protect
human settlements against extreme weather events,
reduce the risk of soil erosion, and capture and store
carbon to reduce atmospheric greenhouse gases. However,their potential has too often been neglected. Mangroves
forests of Southeast Asia have been drained and dammed,
as have the marshlands of South America and the swampsof Central Africa.

Why is getting nature right central to fixing climate?
Nature is the buffer between human development andclimate. Ecosystems can absorb manmade emissions,and their biodiversity helps us to adapt better to climatechange. But climate change threatens that, because it
damages habitats, causing ecological losses that untimely
impact humanity’s chances of survival.

Did the world make progress in 2021,
and what are your hopes for 2022?
2021 started with a series of catastrophic extreme weather
events, such as fires in California, but more hopefully,
ended with a compromise deal at the United Nations
Climate Change Conference. We are running out of time,
but we should be motivated by hope, based on ambitionand collaboration across the generations. The world’s youth
are key allies for wetlands. Their innovative participationis necessary to place nature conservation into a broader
political, economic, and ecological framework.

How important are wetlands to this?
Wetlands are a versatile way to harness nature for fighting
climate change. Around 40 percent of all species live orsoils, is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions to theatmosphere. The consequent climate change is a threat tothe survival of natural ecosystems worldwide. Therefore,
we must protect pristine ecosystems and restore damaged
ones. However, we should not overestimate the capacity ofnature in mitigating climate change. Even when optimallytreated, ecosystems can only contribute; they cannot solve
the climate problem. Most of the job we must do ourselves,
by reducing anthropogenic emissions almost to zero.

Hans Joosten
is a world authority on
peatlands and co-founder of
the Greifswald Mire Centre,
Germany
Why is getting nature right central to fixing climate?
The destruction of natural ecosystems, such as the drainingof peatlands, deforestation, and the ploughing of steppe

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Wetlands International Annual Review 2021

How important are wetlands to this?
Wetlands are disproportionally important, because
peatlands, mangroves, saltmarshes and seagrass meadows
are the ecosystems that worldwide have the highest carbon
density and have the highest rates of carbon capture.
Conversely, their destruction also releases enormous
amounts of carbon dioxide. Peatlands are the global
champions in this respect. We have to stop them fromacting as a substantial source of emissions – by protecting
and where necessary rewetting and restoring them.
Did the world make progress in 2021,
and what are your hopes for 2022?
Over 2021, the awareness of the importance of wetlands,
and especially peatlands, has substantially increased,among scientists, politicians, and policymakers. The badnews is that the urgency for action is rapidly increasing
because we have less and less time to keep climate change
within tolerable limits. The good news is that we know
better and better what to do scientifically, technically, andpolitically. During 2022, we should launch global actions
for peatlands and other high-carbon wetlands.

Why is getting nature right central to fixing climate?
Nature and climate are part of a virtuously reinforcing
dynamic and cannot be addressed separately. Functioning
forests, oceans, and wetlands store large amountsof carbon that would otherwise be released into theatmosphere and contribute to global warming. Likewise,
limiting carbon dioxide emissions would help control theacidification of the oceans and protect marine biodiversity.
Fixing one requires fixing the other.
How important are wetlands to this?
This mutually beneficial relationship is reflected inwetlands. Adequate climate conditions underpin healthy
wetlands, while wetlands provide ecological services that
limit climate change and help adapt to its effects. For
instance, wetlands act as sponges during floods, absorbing
excess water for slow release later.
Did the world make progress in 2021,
and what are your hopes for 2022?
Definitely! We progressed towards defining clear common
goals uniting climate, nature, and ethical considerations.
We also set specific and time-bound targets for nature:
zero net loss of nature from 2020, nature positive by 2030,
and full recovery by 2050. These are beacons for society.
However, until we act on them, we will keep losing natural
treasures. I wish for a world where the values of wetlands
for nature, climate, and humanity are recognised, andwhere wetlands have been restored to a thriving state.

Andre Hoffmann
is a Swiss businessman,environmentalist andphilanthropist, the son ofpioneer wetlands activist
Luc Hoffmann
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49

FUNCTIONING OF
THE ORGANISATION
Covid-19
The Covid-19 pandemic continued to affect people in all
countries in 2021 and, although there were a few periodsof respite, most of the year was disrupted everywhere: inperson meetings, travel and working with partners was very
limited, if at all possible. The rise of new virus mutations
led to unexpected waves of infections and local or national
lockdowns.
Impacts were felt directly by our staff, from illness,quarantine and worry about family, friends and future
employment, to personal isolation caused by our offices
being closed for much of the year. Project implementation
was challenging but progressed better than in the previous
year due to improvements made in remote working andextensive re-planning of projects.
It was a struggle for everyone, but our staff showed
enormous resilience, equally matched by the understanding
and flexibility shown by our programme donors.
Strategic Intent
This was the first year of implementing the Wetlands
International’s Strategic Intent (2020-2030) since its
approval by the organisation’s governance in December
2020. Our teams prepared regional strategies and stream
plans to implement our strategic ambitions.
Achievements
Despite the restrictions imposed by the pandemic anduncertainty in several countries where we work, positive
progress was made across all three workstreams. Results
contributing to the goals set out in the Strategic Intent havebeen delivered collaboratively by our office teams throughprogrammes and projects, in line with the local context inwhich they operate. A summary of achievements is provided
on pages 20-27. A list of the main projects carried out in
2021 is provided in pages 54-57 of the Annex.

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Wetlands International Annual Review 2021

Wetlands International network
Wetlands International is an independent, global networkof offices with shared values, brand and purpose that
implement a joint strategy to safeguard and restore
wetlands in more than 100 countries worldwide. Our offices
and locations are shown on pages 46-47.
Global Office
The Global Office, based in the Netherlands, facilitates work
across the network and provides leadership and support
in representation, programme leadership, communication,and fundraising. The office is responsible for facilitating thedaily work of the network and ensuring it is aligned withdecisions taken by the network management team andglobal board. A social report for the Global Office in 2021 ispresented on pages 58-59.
Communications and advocacy
Strengthening our advocacy and communication is a key
part of upscaling our impact at landscape, national andglobal levels. With support from the COmON Foundationand the Dutch National Postcode Lottery, the focus thisyear was on increasing our visibility, profile and influence
while putting in place the foundations and building capacity
across the network. In 2021, we appointed a new Global
Head of Communications and Advocacy - Julien Anseau and strengthened our capabilities by recruiting new staff
with strong climate advocacy, media and external outreach
track records.
We made good progress in the areas of traditional
media, social media and thought leadership in 2021. We
increasingly secured coverage in top-tier international
media, including our opinion editorial published by Al
Jazeera ahead of COP26 and our CEO appearing on the One
Planet podcast. We also grew our audiences online acrossall digital channels; followers on LinkedIn grew from 10k to
15k in the last 12 months alone. We saw similar growth on
Twitter which we use for breaking news, newsjacking andpolicy influencing. Our fastest growing channel is Instagram.

JULIEN ANSEAUHEAD OF COMMUNICATIONS & ADVOCACY

I lead the communications and advocacy team across the Wetlands International
network. Before joining in August 2021, I worked in communications at WWF
International producing news and content for international media. I also spent many
years in global and regional communication roles with a large international development
NGO, providing strategic and technical leadership to communications and advocacy
teams in Africa, Americas and Asia. I was fortunate to travel to places like Afghanistan,
Timor-Leste, Ethiopia, Ecuador and the Balkans.
Wetlands International’s mission strongly resonates with me. Wetlands are crucial
to people, climate and nature; and yet they continue to be overlooked. This needs
to change and it is now a communication challenge to get people to care and act for
wetlands.
My team is passionate, engaged and great to work with. We aim to inspire and mobilise
society to safeguard and restore wetlands, and we are responsible for building
awareness, influencing change and supporting resource mobilisation to achieve impact
at scale.
A major highlight for my team in 2021 was raising wetlands up the global agenda
at COP26 in Glasgow. We co-organized both the Peatlands and Water Pavilions, andpositioned wetlands as a key solution to climate change. There is now a growing
realisation that healthy wetlands are vital to meeting global climate, sustainable
development and biodiversity goals.
Our challenge now is to engage wider audiences. Wetlands International alone will not
be able to safeguard and restore the world’s wetlands, which is why it’s essential we
work with governments, companies, NGOs, finance institutions, academia, youth, and the
media.

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51

Network
Organisation
Chart

GOVERNANCE
GovernanceWetlands International is a non-profit organisation withcharitable status in the Netherlands and in countries where
it operates. The organisation has two complementary forms
of international governance: an Association of Members(governments and NGOs), and a foundation overseen by aSupervisory Council (SC) whose members also constitutethe Board of the Association (BoA). The SC and BoA met
four times in 2021. A report of governance activities ispresented on pages 14-15. In cases where Wetlands
International offices have an independent legal status, they
are governed by their own boards and the network CEO (F.J.
Madgwick) is an ex-officio member.
Network management
The Global Board, consisting of the Wetlands International
CEO and Heads of each office, is responsible for strategic
decisions on positioning, programme priorities andinstitutional issues. The global board delegates operational
decision-making to the Network Management Team,
chaired by the CEO, with members drawn from among
heads of office and global functions. In 2021, the Network
Management Team met every two months and helped
steer the organisation through the continuing challenges
presented by the Covid-19 pandemic. The Global Board
met in October in its annual meeting and decided onpolicy positions, finalised the 2022 Annual Plan, endorsed
recommendations of the business model review, decidedon ‘big ideas’ to be developed, and agreed priorities
for Network Management Team and changes in its
membership.

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Wetlands International Annual Review 2021

Accountability
Transparency and accountability towards our stakeholders
are part of our core values, including actively seeking
feedback on our performance. A dedicated webpage
provides our annual reports and accounts, and information
about key global policies including the Conservation and
Human Rights Framework, INGO Accountability Framework,
Code of Conduct, Corporate Engagement, Anti-corruption,
Ethical, Gender, and Partnership policies. In 2021 Wetlands
International made no changes to these policies.
Anti-corruption and whistle blowing
All staff are introduced to the anti-corruption policy in theirinduction and are encouraged to be vigilant and discuss
any suspicious activities with their line manager or head of
office. Stakeholders can approach Wetlands Internationalwith any grievances or complaints related to possible casesof fraud, discrimination or mismanagement. The complaints
procedure is available for use of anyone on the Wetlands
International website. No complaints were received in
2021.
Corporate Social Responsibility
Wetlands International strives in its daily operations
to reduce negative impact on the environment and act
in a sustainable and socially responsible way. In the
Netherlands, we encourage Global Office employees
to use public transport. All company flights booked arecompensated for their CO2 emissions. For 2021 we havecalculated 19.31 tons of CO2, which corresponds to a
reduction of 8 percent compared to 2020. Commuting
to work and domestic travel also remained low as many
staff worked from home for most of the year and online
meetings were the standard way of working.

National /Sub-Regional
BoardsSupervisory
Council &Board of
Association

Membersof theAssociation

Network CEO(chairs GB, NMT, GMT)

NETWORKEXECUTIVE
MANAGEMENT

GlobalManagement
Team

Global Board(of Heads of Office)(GMT)

Network
ManagementTeam

PROGRAMMEDEVELOPMENT &IMPLEMENTATION

NetworkOﬃces

Programme
Leadership
Team

Global Oﬃce
(services Network& Offices)

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53

SILVINA SCHUCHNERRITESH KUMARREGIONAL COMMUNICATION COORDINATOR - ARGENTINADIRECTOR OF WETLANDS INTERNATIONAL - SOUTH ASIA

I am Silvina Schuchner - I was born and raised in Buenos Aires, a beautiful andmulticultural city that has grown its urban agglomerations along the La Plata River.
Only recently, we started recovering the river banks and coastline. I have a degree in
Communication and previously worked as a media professional for 25 years. That is how
I was able to meet different native communities and learn about their relationship withland. I love trees in all their forms - many years ago, a wise man taught me to hug themto feel the energy of the earth, since then I got into the habit of doing it. I also love theceibo, our national tree, and the liquidambar with its red leaves in autumn and its seedspheres that, sway in the wind like little bells.

I am Ritesh Kumar – Director of Wetlands International in South Asia. Working with
Wetlands International has given me the opportunity to contribute to building healthy,functioning ecosystems for resilient communities. My team and I believe in an “all ofsociety” approach to conserving wetlands, an inclusive approach which exists as part of
the nature conservation agenda set up in the 2030 targets.

A year and a half ago, I joined the Wetlands International LAC team in the Argentina
Office with one goal: to make everyone aware of the beauty and services that wetlands
provide and how important it is to conserve them. I feel that we have a lot to contribute
through communication. I was particularly interested in the Wetlands International LAC
office because we work with a regional perspective that transcends political borders.
The Corredor Azul, one of our main programmes, seeks to preserve the health andconnectivity of the Paraná-Paraguay wetland system, one of the last examples of a greatriver system that flows without barriers.
For me, one of the highlights in 2021 was to develop a campaign for World Wetlands
Day, the 50th anniversary of the Ramsar Convention, which was covered by national
media. Our main achievement was to reach both the general public and key decisionmakers using different platforms. This year, through a podcast, we have been able tohear the voices of the high Andean communities who defend their territory against nonresponsible lithium extraction: Artisanal fisherfolk, sustainable livestock farmers, andecotourism entrepreneurs are our best ambassadors for the work we do every day.

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Wetlands International Annual Review 2021

One of our challenges is to communicate that wetland ecosystems are not just interfacesof land and water, but support-systems for all people living on our planet. We, as
Wetlands International, can act as connectors of science and knowledge and work at
multiple scales, within multiple sectors, and with a wide range of diverse people. These
interconnections drive us towards action for conserving wetlands for future generations.
In 2021, we started to tell the stories of ordinary people. We joined hands with
non-profit conservation and environmental science news platform, Mongabay India,
and published 25 stories of people initiating and leading change in our Wetlands
Champions series. These stories have been immensely popular and used throughout
various platforms to showcase the power of motivated people taking action. Wetlands
International can act as a strong facilitator by promoting a more inclusive agenda
for wetlands conservation, building on diverse ways of seeing, understanding andinterpreting nature, showcasing community perspectives and making important voices
heard.

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55

11

36

Risk
Management

European
Association
Members(global)
Association
Members

A risk register for the network, including mitigation measures, is updated at least once a year and discussed with the
Wetlands International Supervisory Council. Tackling the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic remained the highest risk at
the end of 2021, followed by economic recession triggered by a post-pandemic budgetary squeeze. The top five risks in
December 2021 are listed in the table below:

56

Area of risk

Potential Impact on organisation

Mitigation measures

1.

Impact of
Covid-19 reduces
fundraising anddelays project
implementation

Operational

Slower implementation leads
to missed opportunities, fewer
results, increase in costs, andchallenges in fundraising.

Keep close contact with project
teams, partners and donors.
Move activities online and otheradaptations.

2,

Economicrecession in
multiple regions
leads to fewer
funds available
and more
competition

Financial

Fewer opportunities to develop
and implement new programmeswith impact on income and staff
budget.

Regular review of situation with
Network Management Team; sharpen
propositions; give more attention
to relationship management andfundraising.

3.

Insufficient
resources to coverorganisationalcosts

Financial

A strong pipeline of newprospects, including flexible
funding for organisational
development, is needed to create
positive impact for wetlands andthe communities who depend on
them.

MT, Heads of Offices and Programme
Heads have time reserved to identify
and develop project concepts.
Building a global fundraising team.

4,

Political instability
and conflict

Governance

Need to stop or substantiallychange implementation due torising insecurity or changes ingovernment support.

Maintain close contacts with Heads
of Office, diplomatic networks anddonors; strengthen cooperation
with local communities; incorporate
flexibility in project design.

5.

Insufficientmonitoringof project
implementation

Financial

Cost over-runs, disallowed
expenditures (non-compliant
with donor conditions) andinsufficient delivery of results,
with consequent impact on
reputation.

Increasing the frequency ofanalysing results and standardising
reporting. Periodically reviewing
management information.

Wetlands International Annual Review 2021

Associated experts,
members andvolunteers

Volunteer
CitizenScientists

8

263

Supervisory
CouncilPartners

31

9

Risk

10,000+

Associate
Experts

Counsellors of
Honour16

Specialist
GroupsIncreasing our reach
The strength of Wetlands International is much more than its
staff and offices. Through working with influential partners,
specialist groups, experts and members, we accelerate ourmomentum and strategic results.
Members and the Supervisory Council provide active
governance and, together with Counsellors of Honour,
bring high-level expertise, guidance and connections. In
2021 Kathy MacKinnon and André van der Zande becameCounsellors of Honour in recognition of their distinguishedservice to the organisation. Specialist groups, associate
experts and partners provide expertise, evidence and advice
that underpins our approach on science, policy and practice.
Partner organisations with whom we work regularly to
implement programmes and projects are listed on pages 6873 of the Annex. We are especially proud of our long-standing
engagement with volunteer and citizen science groups,
such as those who participate in the International Waterbird
Census each year.
Members of the Association
Government and NGO members of the global association
provide long-term support and strategic guidance to theorganisation. In December 2021, members took note of
the 2020 annual review and accounts, passed resolutions
to approve a new Chair (Jan Ernst de Groot) and a newmember (Miguel Jorge) of the Board of Association, anddiscussed advocacy for global wetland targets in 2022 at
the Convention for Biological Diversity and the Ramsar
Convention meetings. Our European Association was joinedby one new member in 2021 (Birdlife Belarus).

Strategic partnerships
Wetlands International works in many partnerships in nearly
all the activities we undertake. Our partnership policy lays
down principles that guide why and how long-term strategic
relationships are developed and managed. In 2021 we madeimportant steps forward in strategic partnerships across ourprogramme, including with:••••

Coasts and Deltas: Global Mangrove Alliance, The Nature
Conservancy, WWF, Permian Global, and Boskalis
Peatlands: Global Peatlands Initiative, Greifswald Mire
Centre, Rewilding Europe, Greenchoice
Rivers and Lakes: CARE, International Alert, IWMI, GIZ
Conventions and Waterbird Agreements: Ramsar
Convention, IUCN, AEWA, EAAFP and CMS

COmON Foundation
The COmON Foundation supports Wetlands
International in its mission to achieve impact for
wetlands and people worldwide. This includes
safeguarding and restoring mangroves andcoastal landscapes in Africa and Asia, bringing
knowledge on wetlands and water issues into the
4 Returns methodology for landscape restorationin partnership with Commonland, and support fora step change in the organisation’s effectiveness.
At the end of 2021, the COmON Foundation
made Wetlands International a key grantee which
elevates our relationship to a strategic level.
Wetlands International Annual Review 2021

57

Spotlight:
Global OfficeSocial Report
2021
This section provides insight into our global office
staffing and human resource (HR) practices in 2021.
Covid-192021 was again a tough year for our Global Office staff
in the Netherlands regarding the continuing risks of thepandemic. Our Covid-19 team oversaw our policies andpractices to ensure the safety and well-being of our staff
while endeavouring to deliver our mission. Working fromhome remained the norm for our team with no travel
outside the Netherlands until late in 2021.
Throughout the year our aim was to protect our staff,
their families and friends to the maximum possible while
going through various waves of infection, lockdown andeasing of measures. It was especially challenging for new‘wetlanders’ who started working for the organisationin 2020-2021. We are proud of our great team and arethankful for their resilience, flexibility and professionalism- hats off to all!
Diversity
In December 2021, we had a total global office staff of 34
people which is 5 fewer than the previous year. Our staff
has a diverse cultural and professional background whichmatches our role as an international NGO. During the year
key staff ratios remained generally stable with 14 different
nationalities, an average age of 46 years, and a balanced
male/female ratio of 47/53. In 2021, almost 80% of ourstaff were educated to university level and include 9
members with PhDs.
Employment contracts
The average number of working hours per person per
week was 34 during the year (fulltime is 36 hours). During2021 we employed 10 new staff members while 15
staff members left. We reshaped the team to meet theneeds of the Strategy and the emerging project portfolio.
Of the fifteen who left: three moved to other Wetlands
International functions in other Offices; six moved to newjobs, of whom two senior technical staff after 10 years

58

Wetlands International Annual Review 2021

GlobalOfficeStaff
in the organisation and the other four moving to jobs
which represented a career step-up for them; five staff
did not match the needs of the new Strategy and became
redundant; one person resigned for personal reasons.
Induction at a distance
The past year taught us to be flexible and creative in all
we do. New colleagues picked up their responsibilities
quickly and started to bring on others in turn. In this we
benefited from the remote working practices developed in
the first year of the pandemic, and we also used the limited
possibilities to meet in person to strengthen teamwork. For
example, in September, during one of the periods when theCovid-19 rules have been relaxed, we held a games day for
all Wetlands employees.
HealthIn 2021 Covid-19 affected our staff more than the year
before – mentally and physically. Our total percentage
of sick leave went up to 2.1% which is relatively high forthe organisation, including reasons other than Covid-19.
With most staff working from home, we continued to makeadditional equipment available (screens, chairs, keyboards,etc.) to colleagues to work safely.
Integrity
Personal safety and integrity are a priority for Wetlands
International. We have policies and practices about
the behaviour staff can expect from each other and we
endeavour to create a safe space to share concerns orcomplaints as they occur. No official complaints werereceived in 2021 from staff; the external person of trust
was consulted after receiving a letter from a staff member
who had left by mutual agreement. After discussion it wasagreed by all that, apart from informing the Supervisory
Council, no further action was needed. We continue togive attention to awareness and training on behaviour,transparency and integrity.

47%

53%

14 NATIONALITIESAVERAGE AGE: 46

STAFF NUMBERS

CONTRACT TYPE

total: 34
fte: 31,8
part-time: 12
full-time: 22

permanent: 18
ﬁxed time: 16
project: 0

HEALTHHIGHEST LEVELEDUCATION
PhD: 9master: 16
bachelor: 7other: 2

short-term
sick leave 2.1%

INTEGRITY
PROCEDURES
internal: 0
external: 0

Wetlands International Annual Review 2021

59

SUMMARY OF
FINANCE AND RESOURCING

Our sources of income andexpenditures across the three streams
Across our three streams, Coasts and Deltas accounted forthe largest portion of our income at 50%, Rivers and Lakes
at 38% and Peatlands contributing 12% of total network
income.

Resource development andimplementation by network offices
In 2021, network offices received and managed 35% of
total income directly from our donors. This is slightly lower
than in 2020 (44%). This decrease was mainly due todelays in implementing project activities, caused by the
Covid-19 pandemic.
Projects managed through the global office are mostly
implemented by our network offices or by affiliatedscientific institutions, partners and experts using subcontracts.

This section provides a summary of Wetlands International’s finance and resourcing in 2021.
A detailed version can be found in sections 1 and 2 (annual accounts) and section 3 of the Annex.
TOTAL IN CO ME N ETWO R K AN D GLO B AL O F F IC E (F O U N DAT I ON)

Wetlands International focuses its work where wetlands matter most to both people and nature.
Our programmes and initiatives are developed to meet our goals which are set out in our Strategic Intent 2020-2030
and are organised into three streams: Coasts and Deltas, Rivers and Lakes, and Peatlands(see section 3.1 of the Annex for a complete list of our projects).

18
16
14
12
10
M I L L I O N E U RO

Our programmes are increasingly large-scale and long-term, involving transboundary and international workthat involves several offices. The network’s offices (global and sub-regional, national) work together on resource
development and an increasing amount of funding is raised by offices other than the global office.

8
6
4
2

Global Network
Global Network
Income by
IncomeStreamby Stream

Global Network
Global Network
Income by
IncomeDonorby Donor

6%

38%

40%

50%

40%

Per
Per
Donor Donor
51%

12%

60

12%

Wetlands International Annual Review 2021

51%

Corporate
Corporate

Coasts &Coasts
Deltas& Deltas

Government
Institution
Government
Institution

Peatlands
Peatlands

Trusts, Foundations& Non-Proﬁts
Trusts, Foundations& Non-Proﬁts

Rivers &Rivers
Lakes & Lakes

Membership
Membership

BUDGET 2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

In come N e t wor k
In come Glob a l O ﬃ ce

Considerations looking ahead
We can further invest in improvement of our network’s
institutional capacity and financial resilience, thanks to a
growing portfolio of core and flexible finance. In addition
to our annual member dues and a grant from the Dutch
Postcode Lottery, from 2022 we anticipate an annual
grant from the COmON Foundation to enable our entire
organisation to step up efforts to reach our global ambitionin terms of impact for people and nature. This key grant
will be evaluated every three years. We also received
significant one-off grants in 2021 from individuals via
philanthropic fundraising platforms.

6%

38%
Per
Per 50%Stream Stream

2014

Our sources of income andexpenditures across the sectors
The main source of income in 2021 was from government
grants, representing 51% of our income. In addition 40%
came from foundations, trusts and other non-profits,
6% from corporate funding (through our Collaboration
Agreements). Membership contributions are 3% of thetotal income but are important strategically, as they enableaction on waterbird monitoring and support strategic
investments. A full list of network projects can be found insection 3.1 of the Annex. This list provides an overview ofprojects implemented in 2021 per office and includes thestream, the amount funded, the donor and the donor type.

2013

0

Resourcing the global organisation
The main sources of income of Wetlands Internationalfor 2021 came from projects as well as important annual
contributions from our members. The total network project
income is based on data obtained from all offices according
to their national finance practices. The total network
project income of 2021 amounted to EUR 14.8 million (seeAnnex section 3.1).

Project and programme funding continues to be ourmainstay but with these (more) flexible funds, we are
better able to invest in strengthening organisational
capacities, nurturing partnerships and programmes, donor
stewardship, communications and advocacy – all of whichenables us to attract additional finance for upscaling.
These positive developments make the organisation lessvulnerable to shifts in donor priorities and increasinglycompetitive calls for proposals. In addition, we will be able
to give more priority to secure long-term and multi-region
programme development.

We aim to make positive shifts in the coming years in ouroperational standards and processes across the networkorganisation. In 2022-2023 for example, we will rollout project cycle management training to harmonize
operations across offices and build staff expertise. This
will further increase our efficiency, project management
standards and capacity to share and manage project
knowledge and lessons from the field.
Alongside this, we are taking steps to develop
fundraising capacity across the regions, to enhance ourcommunications impact and to improve knowledge
management and learning.
We continue our efforts to enlarge and diversify ourbase of members and supporters, and plan to explore
mechanisms which will improve the financial resilience ofthe Wetlands International network as a whole, including
strengthening our financial reserves to enable us toaddress unforeseen external events and to invest in
the organisation. The above priorities reflect the advice
received from consultants who undertook a review of
Wetlands International’s internal operations during 2021.

Wetlands International Annual Review 2021

61

THANK YOU
The progress made towards our 2030 targets, as set out in the Strategic Intent 2020-2030 and documented in thisAnnual Review, is made possible thanks to the support of our donors, members, partners and the global network ofvolunteer International Waterbird Census observers. Many thanks to them all.

Wetlands International has the ambitious goal to safeguard
and restore tens of millions of hectares of wetlands over2020-2030, bringing multiple returns for people, climate,and nature. Our theory of change encapsulates the threemain phases of our work: to inspire, mobilise, and upscale.
These are the key ingredients of our organisational strategy
for the period 2020-2030.
At Wetlands International, we understand that only byworking with others can we safeguard and restore theworld’s wetlands. That is why we join forces with a growing
portfolio of partners to increase our reach and accelerate
our impact.

We would especially like to thank our major donors in 2021:••

In 2021, we worked intensively with existing and new
partners to drive wetland solutions across sectors andscales, from knowledge institutions to the private sector.
We would like to thank you all.
•
Our members played an important part in shaping ourStrategic Intent 2020-2030 and their annual membershipcontributions helps us to drive implementation. Our
members, both governments and NGOs, also provide
additional financial support and collaborate in programmes
and on policy advocacy. A big thank you to them for theircontinuing support and collaboration.
The International Waterbird Census, one of the longest
running and largest citizen science programme in theworld, brings together counts of millions of waterbirds
thanks to the many hours of fieldwork by tens of thousandsof volunteers. Many thanks to them.

62

Wetlands International Annual Review 2021••

The COmON Foundation for supporting Wetlands
International in its mission to achieve impact
for wetlands and people worldwide, including
safeguarding and restoring mangroves and coastal
landscapes in Africa and Asia, bringing knowledge
on wetlands and water issues into the 4 Returns
methodology for landscape restoration in partnershipwith Commonland (see page 30), supporting for a stepchange in the organisation’s effectiveness, and making
Wetlands International a key grantee (see page 61).
The Dutch National Postcode Lottery for their grantand extending its support for another three years(2021-2023). This contribution enables us to step up
our work with partners to stimulate and enable wholelandscape recovery including the regeneration of vital
wetlands (see page 61).
DOB Ecology for supporting major, long-term
programmes to conserve and restore mangroves inAfrica, and to conserve the river and wetland system of
the Paraná-Paraguay and the High Andean wetlands inSouth America (see page 33).
Swedish International Development Cooperation
Agency (SIDA) for enabling the restoration of highvalue wetlands in the Rift valley and along the East
African Mangrove Coast.
The International Climate Initiative (IKI) of theGerman Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature
Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) for its support
to the Building with Nature Indonesia programme andthe Accelerating Adaptation through Building with

Measuring carbon in palm swamp forests on peat, Peru.

•

•

•

•

•

•

Nature in Asia upscaling initiative (see page 34).
The German Agency for Development & International
Cooperation (GIZ) for enabling our work on deltas andcoasts.
The MAVA Foundation for supporting our long-term
engagement and partnership programmes in West
Africa and the Mediterranean region.
Arcadia for enabling our work to help conserve andrestore intertidal wetlands along the Yellow Sea coastin China, a critically important part of the East Asian –Australasian Flyway for migratory waterbirds (see page
34).
Grantham Foundation for supporting our work with
Rewilding Europe on the development of carbon
landscape propositions for peatland restoration, andattracting further funding for upscaling (see page 26).
Greenchoice for supporting us to restore 2,500 haof mangroves in Guinea-Bissau (see page 29) andcontributing to the first-ever Peatland Pavilion at
UNFCCC COP26 (see page 44).
All the donors who fund the Global Mangrove Alliance,and particularly the Oak Foundation, DoB Ecology,
COmON Foundation and the Dutch National Postcode
Lottery for their support toward the developmentof the Global Mangrove Watch platform and its••

integration into (inter)national processes to support
the broader mangrove community (see page 34).
The Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), the Swiss
Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) andothers for funding our work in the Sahel, the Horn ofAfrica and elsewhere on the African continent (seepage 11).
The many ministries of environment and development
agencies, state and local governments, and all
government and NGO members who enable our work.

A big thank you also to all the other donors listed on page
75 onwards of the Annex.

Wetlands International Annual Review 2021

63

Colophon
Copyright© 2022 Wetlands International
Published by Wetlands International
P.O. Box 471
6700 AL Wageningen
The Netherlands
Design and Layout
Gertie Vos
Joeri Borst
EditorAndrea Gros
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Photo credits
cover
back
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Wetlands International East Africa,
Elizabeth Wamba
Adobe Stock
Shutterstock
Wetlands International, Joeri Borst
IUCN, XIA Jianguo
iStock
4 Returns Landscape Cover, Wetlands
International
The State of the World’s Mangroves
Cover, Wetlands International
CIFOR
Wetlands International
Olivier Barriere
Dr Bruno Oberle, Wikipedia, Creative
Commonsbottom Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim,
United Nations, Rick Bajornas
top Elizabeth Maruma Mrema,
Convention on Biological Diversity

Wetlands International Annual Review 2021

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middle Martha Rojas-Urrego, Wikipedia,
Creative Commonsbottom Sacha Dench, Conservation
without Borders
Wetlands International
Wetlands Internationalbottom right Wetlands International,
Nicolette Petri
Wetlands International, Richard
Hollandbackground Adobe Stockbackground NASA Johnson, Flickr
Adobe Stock
Adobe Stock
Adobe Stock
Adobe Stock
Ruben Veefkind, Greenchoice
Wetlands International
John Loudon, COmON Foundation
Steve Black
Rewilding Europe

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Mopti, Yeveline Poncet
Juanje Orío, Flickr
Ibrahim Thiaw, Desertif Actions
Wetlands International Indonesia, Apri
Susanto Astra
Wetlands International, Ibrahima Sadio
FofanaPeter Blakely, Natural England
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Wetlands International global office,Cinthia Soto
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World Economic Forum, Andre
Hoffmann
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Silvina Schuchner55.
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www.wetlands.org

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Wetlands International Annual Review 2021