COP16: Why we must care for the planet's ecosystems

Simple examples, such as the filtration of water consumed in Bogotá by wetlands, the provision of food such as fish by the Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta, or the shelter for birds and other animals provided by the Cocha Lagoon in Nariño, show how important they are to the daily lives of communities and to the future of nature.

The great challenge today, however, according to experts, is that many of these areas in the world are unprotected and the vast majority of people are unaware of their importance. "What we have seen over the years is that these are ecosystems that have essential functions. They also have economic services: they are used for consumption and for energy. Wetlands act as sponges, holding and releasing water, which makes them important for preventing floods and droughts. They also clean and filter pollutants and, in some places, can be used to improve water quality. No one can say that water is not important, but it is an extremely scarce resource," he said.

According to the scientist, who chaired the convention responsible for promoting the protection of this type of ecosystem around the world, wetlands are also key to preventing extreme weather events, as 90% of natural disasters are water-related. Today, however, only a few countries are concerned about their protection, she said.

"If these ecosystems have been lost, it is not because nothing has been done. What has happened is that much of the work that has been done has been done in the context of a community that is convinced that wetlands are fundamental, but has not looked outward," the expert said.

According to Rojas, even the Convention on Biological Diversity, which is organizing COP16 to protect biodiversity, has not been able to give wetlands the importance they deserve. "The conservation and restoration of aquatic biodiversity is fundamental to achieving the goals of the Kunming Montreal Framework (which will be reviewed this year at COP16 in Cali). Without wetlands, there is no water, and without water, there is no life. The whole biodiversity agenda depends on this aquatic biodiversity agenda not being left behind," she said.

In this regard, the scientist identified six challenges that must be addressed today to ensure the integrity of wetlands: developing an ambitious agenda for the restoration of freshwater ecosystems; addressing the causes of wetland loss; integrating wetland conservation into the development agenda; strengthening data and monitoring, i.e. creating a global inventory of wetlands; promoting the implementation of actions on the ground through legal frameworks; and finally, promoting the participation and empowerment of communities.

"Wetland loss is never news. Loss of forests is news, but loss of wetlands is never news. Resources and commitments need to be mobilized at different levels. Biodiversity and water are two elements that cut across all the goals of the Kunming Montreal Framework," the expert added.

In this sense, Carlos Rodríguez, Director of the Tropenbos Colombia Foundation, emphasized that in order to protect aquatic biodiversity located in continental areas, as in other highly important ecosystems, it is essential to have the of communities. According to the expert, in places like the Amazon basin, traditional knowledge must work in synergy with Western scientific knowledge and the institutional framework for the conservation of fishery resources.

For example, Rodríguez points out that indigenous communities in the Amazon have taxonomic and classification systems, as well as extensive and detailed knowledge of the hundreds of fish species that inhabit the various basins. They also understand the seasonality and behavior of the ecosystems, which makes it possible to take advantage of them without compromising the ecosystem's ability to provide.

"The communities here have a fundamental role as active actors in fisheries management. In this regard, Colombian legislation has made significant progress in recognising and endorsing community fishing agreements with resolutions from the fisheries authorities. This is a good step, but we need to do more to turn communities into environmental managers of these resources," says Rodríguez.

One point on which the country has also made progress, according to the expert, is the recognition of several rivers as the subject of rights, a novel legal measure at the global level, which allows for the improvement of conservation actions of the basins from the legislation. "This is fundamental because it recognises the needs of the river itself. The need to flow, to spread, to be healthy and sound. And at the same time it recognises bioculturality: the relationship that communities have built up over time with water areas and their management practices, which can facilitate their participation over time," says the researcher.

On this point, Mariana Varesse, coordinator of the WCS Amazon Waters Programme, stressed the importance of shared learning and knowledge in conserving the Amazon. For example, the programme uses data and records from collaborative science in remote areas to learn about the state of biodiversity.

This year, a few months ago, a number of scientific colleagues carried out an analysis of this data, which was not collected using traditional scientific methods but based on input from various people, mainly fishermen, and showed that the data were consistent with previous literature and even extended the known ranges of some key species," she said. In other words, community involvement and collaborative science made a significant contribution," she said.

Finally, biologist and director of the Fundación Natura, Clara Solano, stressed the need for urgent global action, as the loss of wetlands can have serious consequences for human well-being and negative impacts on communities, countries and businesses.

"I think there are two very clear examples that allow us to introduce the issue: a city like Bogota currently has a problem with water resources, despite being surrounded by a series of high mountain wetlands (páramos), and we have been forced to reassess our relationship with water because our system has problems with what it offers to a city that is growing. And a second example is the FAO report that came out a few weeks ago, which gave data on the degradation of biodiversity associated with freshwater inland aquatic ecosystems, and for the first time more than 50% of the fishery resources consumed by society as a whole, 51%, come from aquaculture systems and 49% from fishing," Solano pointed out.