## 6 Conclusions--Ways Forward  
The new GEO-Wetlands initiative facilitates cooperation between different projects under the common goal of improving the mapping, monitoring and assessment of global wetland extent, status and trends. Close cooperation between projects and teams from different regions and backgrounds is important for achieving ambitious global targets that are set by conventions and frameworks. In the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals, indicator 6.6.1. \"Change in the extent of water related ecosystems over time\" requires information of high temporal and spatial resolution. Earth observations make significant contributions that also directly support the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. As [PERSON] et al. already reported in 2009 [21], EO can play a significant role for wetland monitoring on different scales. The scientific and technical developments since then has increased the capabilities of remote sensing even further. In SSA countries it is often difficult to utilize the full potential of available satellite data and hydrological model applications, despite the growing accessibility and quality of remote sensing data and sophisticated hydrological modelling applications. Frequent and persistent limitations include technical capacity bottlenecks in planning agencies and the fact that LULCC and hydrological analysis is often delivered through transient and externally funded projects. We posit that the development of partnerships such as the one underpinning this study may provide an institutional mechanism to overcome some of those limitations. The potential value of the partnership transcends the mere pooling of multi-sector expertise and rests in the blending of different and complementary institutional agendas. In this case the partnership has joined a global environmental monitoring initiative, a regional research initiative and a site-specific development intervention embedded in the national wetland management system. The productive outcome from the initial opportunistic agenda shared by the partners has opened up further potential: the use of the results of the environmental analysis in the local planning processes currently deployed on-site to strengthen the management of the Ramsar Site; the dissemination of key evidence of LULCC change among local stakeholders to increase awareness of change at landscape scale and to mitigate conflicts over land use decisions; the feeding of the experience into the development of standardized methods, best practice guidelines and training material on various scales to improve wetland degradation assessment and overall wetland management in SSA; utilization of the evidence generated into the national and international reporting system for the SDG indicator 6.6.1 and the related national reporting on water related ecosystems. **Acknowledgments:** The GlobeE: Wetlands in East Africa project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (FKZ: 031A250 A-H), with additional funding provided by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development. The SWOS project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under Grant Agreement No. 642088. The contents of this paper are the sole responsibility of the authors and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union. The Kilombero and Lower Rufiji Wetlands Ecosystem Management Project (KILORWEMP) is financed by the European Union and Belgian Aid and executed by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism of Government of Tanzania and the Belgian Development Agency (TAN1102711). Many thanks to our East African partners and all colleagues of the GlobeE, SWOS and KILORWEMP projects, who provided data and assistance.