Sabah Call for Action
Integrated Biodiversity Conservation: Linking Forests and Wetlands
Asian Wetland Symposium (AWS Sabah 2011)
Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
18-20 July 2011
The world entered into a new era of biodiversity conservation with the adoption of the Strategic Planfor Biodiversity 2011-2020 and the “Aichi Biodiversity Targets” at the 10th Meeting of theConference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Nagoya, Aichi
Prefecture, Japan in October 2010. These targets are expected to be achieved during the United
Nations Decade on Biodiversity (2011-2020). The United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF)
recognises the significant role that sustainable forest management has in development, poverty
reduction and the achievement of international aspirations, such as the United Nations Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs). The basic tenet of the Ramsar Convention, the wise use of wetlands andtheir resources, identifies their importance in supporting human well-being.
Enhancing synergy in the implementation of the CBD, the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, and otherinitiatives such as UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme and the UNFF’s Nonlegally Binding Instrument on All Types of Forests is critical to achieving the “Aichi BiodiversityTargets” and the MDGs. Exploring ways to facilitate such synergies was thus a key aim of the AWS
Sabah 2011, which coincided with the 40th anniversary of both the Ramsar Convention andUNESCO’s MAB Programme, and the United Nations International Year of Forests.
Water, through the natural infrastructure provided by wetlands, is one of the main unifying factors forthese international conventions and initiatives. In the face of increasing pressures on water quality andquantity caused by the continued degradation and loss of wetlands and existing and emerging
challenges such as climate change, there is a need for better integration of such initiatives at the local,
national and regional levels, and to identify innovative approaches for sustainable development,
financing, human well-being and biodiversity conservation.
The 324 participants of the AWS Sabah 2011 identified a number of strategies and mechanisms thatshould be taken into consideration in order to address these challenges, and propose that policy-makers
and decision-makers and wetland user groups give priority attention to the following:
1. Promote integrated management systems that incorporate socio-economic priorities, the rights
and responsibilities of local communities, and innovative technologies and approaches in therestoration and conservation of forests and wetlands. Encourage the application of land andseascape planning tools such as UNESCO’s MAB Programme to integrate human dimensions
in the conservation of biodiversity in forests and wetlands.
2. Undertake or update national wetland inventories and conduct research on issues related toforests, and use these to guide landscape planning and decision-making processes related tothe utilization of wetland and forest resources.
3. Develop more synergy and coordination in the management of forests and wetlands throughgreater cooperation at the national level, e.g. between the National Focal Points for theMultilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) and UNFF.
4. Mainstream forests and wetlands conservation into national and local planning processes, suchas poverty reduction strategies, economic development plans, climate change strategies, anddisaster management plans. Give priority to ensuring that revisions of National Biodiversity
Strategy and Action Plans (NBSAPs) incorporate the conservation and wise use of wetlands.

15. Promote investments in forest and wetland conservation through funding mechanisms andinitiatives such as the regional development banks and the proposed Green Climate Change
Fund (GCF) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC),and encourage investments in applied research programmes to provide sound scientificinformation and tools.
6. Enhance partnerships with and investments by the private sector in forest and wetland
conservation efforts, including the development of sustainable business strategies.
7. Incorporate the values of forest and wetland ecosystem services and the economic costs
associated with forest and wetland degradation and loss in financial, economic and investment
planning and policies. Use economic and financial tools, e.g. payments for ecosystem services(PES), biodiversity offsets and environmental-fiscal reforms to provide incentives for theconservation of forests and wetlands.
8. Recognise the natural and cultural capital provided by forests and wetlands to support
livelihoods in order to meet the daily needs of local people and rural communities.
9. Strengthen existing Communication, Education, Participation and Awareness (CEPA)
programmes to empower specific target groups such as communities, youths, educators,business people, decision-makers and the media to take effective actions for forest andwetland conservation. Recognise the importance and effectiveness of involving the young
generation in wetland CEPA activities.
10. Ensure that planning and research processes integrate cultural and heritage values, traditional
ecological knowledge (TEK), traditional landscape approaches such as the Satoyama Initiative,and local initiatives such as the Tagal system in Sabah in the conservation and wise use offorests and wetlands.
The AWS Sabah 2011 was hosted by the State Government of Sabah, in cooperation with the Ministryof Natural Resources and Environment Malaysia, the JICA-Bornean Biodiversity and Ecosystems
Conservation (BBEC) Phase II Programme, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, and Ramsar Center Japan.
The participants of this meeting seek the assistance of the Government of Malaysia and the Ramsar
Secretariat to convey the "Sabah Call for Action" to the Asia Regional Ramsar Meeting to be held inJakarta in November 2011, the 11th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to theRamsar Convention on Wetlands to be held in Romania in June 2012, and the 11th Meeting of theConference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity to be held in India in October
2012.
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