Ramsar Wetlands

Values, Assessment, Management

Peter Gell, Nick Davidson, Max Finlayson

• Publisher: Elsevier
• Year: 2023
• Print ISBN: 9780128178034
• eBook ISBN: 9780128178041
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Subtopic: Ecology
• Index: Biological Sciences

Ramsar Wetlands: Values, Assessment, Management addresses the approaches, successes and limitations of the Ramsar Convention in a changing world, how recent approaches to wetland monitoring and management can contribute to improving wetland state, what the future holds for wetlands and their wise use, and what the Ramsar Convention needs to do to achieve future successes. The book presents a unique outlook on a range of issues, addressing considerable advances in our understanding of wetlands, their great environmental, social, cultural and economic importance, their role in maintaining the global water-cycle, and in mitigating and adapting to changing climates. No other book has yet taken this broad look at the past, present and future of wetlands and the Ramsar Convention. From aquatic ecologists, environmental scientists and engineers, to water resource managers, conservation agencies, and land management planners, this comprehensive guide is a beneficial tool in understanding wetlands. - Answers questions on the responsibilities and roles of signatory nations to the Ramsar Convention, including how it may deal with ongoing and emerging causes of wetland change - Addresses ongoing challenges of reporting and managing wetland change - Provides a multidisciplinary approach and details the wise use principle that underpins the convention

Table of contents

• Title of Book
• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright
• Contributors
• Authors’ biography
• Foreword
• Preface
• About the editors
• 1 An introduction to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands
• 2 Ramsar Convention governance and processes at the international level
• 3 Ramsar at the national level: Application and incorporation into domestic law
• 4 The extent and distribution of the world’s wetlands
• 5 The distribution of the world’s internationally important wetlands and their contribution to global protected area goals and Aichi Biodiversity Target 11
• 6 Linking wetland ecological processes with the delivery of ecosystem services
• 7 Ecosystem services
• 8 The response of wetlands to long-term climate change
• 9 What’s happening to the world’s wetlands?
• 10 Cultural landscapes: Human impacts on wetlands
• 11 What’s driving wetland loss and degradation?
• 12 Wetland monitoring: Understanding variability and change in ecological condition
• 13 Trajectories in wetland condition: Setting limits of acceptable change
• 14 Management effectiveness of wetland-protected areas
• 15 Investing in wetland restoration: Practical guidance and looking ahead
• 16 Human culture and its evolving place in the Ramsar Convention
• 17 International governance of water for wetland conservation
• 18 Climate change and wetlands: Vulnerability, adaptation, mitigation, resolutions, and scientific societies
• 19 Wetlands as social–ecological systems: Bridging nature and society
• 20 Wetlands and future change—Implications and opportunities with the Ramsar Convention
• Glossary
• Index