Understanding change in the ecological character of Ramsar wetlands: perspectives from a deeper time – synthesis

Abstract

Abstract. The Convention for Wetlands was signed in 1971 as part of a global measure to mitigate the loss and degradation of the world's wetlands. Signatory nations nominate wetlands as internationally important and commit to maintaining their 'ecological character'. In many cases the character that has been maintained was that occurring at the time of nomination with scant attention to the variability and change that occurs over longer periods. Palaeoclimate and palaeoecological research now reveals a diverse array of conditions in wetlands in the past and attests that any recently identified condition may be transient. The research further reveals the considerable magnitude and antiquity of the impact of people on wetlands. Hence the site description used by wetland managers would benefit from the provision of a longerterm perspective of change. The changing state of wetlands provides a dilemma for wetland managers. In response, a workshop on understanding change in wetlands was held in Queenscliff, Australia, in November 2013 to draw together perspectives of change from neo-and palaeoecological sources to enable the formulation of new pathways of assessment to better accommodate the dynamic nature of wetlands. A synthesis of the information provided at the workshop is provided in this paper.

Wetlands In a Changing Climate: Science, Policy and Management

“…The Convention, though, has not provided specific guidance on how to meet these requirements in the context of climate change, such as how to identify appropriate reference conditions Gell et al 2016) and whether past reference conditions were indeed suitable under the changing conditions of the Anthropocene (Kopf et al 2015). This lack of guidance has left important gaps in wetland policy concerning:…”

Conserving the endangered woylie (Bettongia penicillata ogilbyi): Establishing a semi‐arid population within a fenced safe haven

“…Managers then have a pathway to enact management, whether it be to reduce population size of key predators or competitors, increase emigration rates, fence off areas to allow vegetation recovery, genetically supplement the population and so on. It is, therefore, also very important to identify key risk factors for monitoring (Burgman ; Metcalf & Wallace ; Smith et al ) and to, over time, develop targets and evidence to inform a theory of management, such as a carrying capacity and limits of acceptable change (Rogers et al ; Gell et al ).…”

Policy considerations for managing wetlands under a changing climate

“…To conserve a representative range of wetland types, the Convention also relies on a classification system that defines wetland types on the basis of structural and functional categories (Finlayson 2017). However, listing of sites as Wetlands of International Importance has also led some Contracting Parties to emphasise the maintenance of the conservation values at the time of listing, rather than the restoration of previous values or consideration of the history of change in the wetland Gell et al 2016).…”

“…This is supported by several decisions that recognise this Although not all Contracting Parties use the avoid-mitigatecompensate framework, they do often have a similar framework. However, the Ramsar Convention did not specifically link this framework with efforts to address the impacts of climate change on wetlands, possibly as a consequence of the reticence of the Convention to produce specific guidelines for addressing climate change (Finlayson 2013;Gell et al 2016). The three broad steps in the avoid-mitigate-compensate framework in the context of climate change are outlined below.…”

“…the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) as well as the various policy positions held by individual Contracting Parties, but has not delivered specific guidance on how to respond to the obligations under the Convention in the face of such change Gell et al 2016). There is a need for the Ramsar Convention to develop a consistent and in-depth approach for dealing with the global phenomenon of anthropogenic climate change because this will affect the ecological character of many, if not all, wetlands (Finlayson 2013).…”