21 July 2011, Dailyexpress News - The three-day Asian Wetland Symposium ended here Wednesday with a 10-point declaration tagged "Sabah Call for Action".

They represent strategies and mechanisms that the regional community should take as a united front to address challenges that are getting bigger and more intense.

It would be presented at the Asia Regional Ramsar meeting in Jakarta this November, the 11th Meeting of Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Convention on Wetlands in Romania and the 11th Meeting of the Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in India, in June and October 2012, through the Malaysian Government and the Ramsar Secretariat.

These challenges include increasing pressures on water quality and quantity caused by continuing degradation and loss of wetlands, both existing and emerging new challenges such as climate change.

The 322 participants concluded that water, through the natural infrastructure provided by wetlands, is one of the main unifying factors for these international initiatives.

The big initiatives include the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2012 and the Aichi Biodiversity Targets set at the Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan , in October 2010, which are expected to be fulfilled during the UN Decade on Biodiversity 2011-2020.

Other major initiatives include the UN Forum of Forests (UNFF) which recognizes that sustainable forest management is important for development, poverty reduction and achievement of international aspirations, such as the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs).

The Ramsar Convention and its basic "Wise Use" tenet of wetlands and their resources, pins down the importance of wetlands in supporting human wellbeing.

The Asian Wetlands symposium here represents a regional effort to enhance the synergy in implementing the Convention on Biological Diversity , the Ramsar Convention , plus other initiatives such as the Unesco Man and Biosphere (MAB) Programme and the Non-legally Binding Instrument of All Types of Forests, deemed critical to achieving the "Aichi Biodiversity Targets" and the MDGs.

To make these high hopes happen, the participants stress that integration of the initiatives at the local, national and regional levels must improve and innovative approaches for sustainable development, financing, human well being and biodiversity conservation, must be found.

The Sabah Call for Action are as follows: 1. Promote integrated management systems that incorporate socio-economic priorities, the rights and responsibilities of local communities, and innovative technologies and approaches in the restoration and conservation of forests and wetlands. Encourage the application of land and seascape planning tools such as Unesco MAB Programme to integrate human dimensions into the conservation of biodiversity in forests and wetlands.

2. Undertake or update national wetland inventories and conduct research on issues related to forest, and use them to guide landscape planning and decision-making processes related to the utilization of wetland and forest resources.

3. Develop more synergy and co-ordination in the management of forests and wetlands through greater co-operation at the national level, eg, between the National Focal Points for the Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs and UNFF).

4. Mainstream forests and wetlands conservation into national and local planning processes, such as poverty reduction strategies, economic development plans. Give priority to ensuring that revisions of National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plans ( NBSAPs) incorporate conservation and wise use of wetlands.

5. Promote investments in forest and wetland conservation through funding mechanisms and initiatives, such as the regional development banks and the proposed Green Climate Change Fund (GCF) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and encourage investments in the applied research programmes to provide sound scientific information and tools.

6. Enhance partnerships with and investments by the private sector in forests and wetland conservation efforts, including development of sustainable business management.

7. Incorporate the values of forest and wetland ecosystem services in financial, economic and investment planing policies, and the economic costs associated with forest and wetland degradation and loss. Use economic and financial tools, eg, payment for ecosystem services (PES), biodiversity offsets and environmental -fiscal reforms to provide incentives for the conservation of forests and wetlands.

8. Recognise the natural and cultural capital provided by forests and wetlands to support livelihoods in order to meet the daily needs of local people and rural communities.

9. Strengthen existing Communication, Education, Participation and Awareness (CEPA) programmes to empower specific target groups such as communities, youths, educators, business people, decision-makers and the media to take effective actions for forest and wetland conservation.

Recognise the importance and effectiveness of involving the young generation in wetland CEPA activities.

10. Ensure the planning and research processes integrate cultural and heritage values, traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) , traditional landscape approaches such as Satoyama Initiative, and the local initiatives such as the Tagal system in Sabah in the conservation and wise use of wetlands.

The Sabah Government, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the JICA-Bornean Biodiversity and Ecosystems Conservation (BBEC) Phase 2 , UMS and Ramsar Center Japan, hosted the symposium themed Integrated Biodiversity Conservation : Linking Forests and Wetlands .