Rio Conventions Pavilion TV, CBD COP11 (18/10/2012) – Anada Tiéga, Secretary General of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, explains the importance of protecting wetlands and why it must be done multilaterally.
Tiéga stresses that wetlands provide a natural infrastructure for water distribution, providing valuable ecosystem services. Tiéga affirms that when healthy, wetlands improve human health, agriculture, food security, energy production and tourism.
Tiéga emphasises that a long term, multilateral approach to wetland conservation is essential. He gives the example of the Nile Basin, an area of wetland essential to regional agriculture and industry that distributes water in ten countries. He argues that this is a clear example of the necessity of international collaboration between all stakeholders on this issue.