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The 14th meeting of the Ramsar Wetlands Conference (COP14) was held in Geneva from 5 to 13 November 2022, simultaneously also in Wuhan, China. At the International Conference Center in Geneva (CICG) all the contracting countries of the RAMSAR convention on wetlands – over 170 - met, to reiterate the urgency of putting the principles of the Convention on wetlands into the field, in line with the conservation, restoration and supervision of the rational use of wetlands. 

The MEDSEA foundation participated as an observer in the plenary sessions and collateral events at the Geneva appointment. During one of the collateral events dedicated to Nature-based Solutions in the Mediterranean, MEDSEA brought some of the most significant actions of the Maristanis project, chosen as a good practice together with three other international experiences, the results of which were shared with colleagues from all over the world. 

"It is no coincidence that the COP 14 on wetlands in Geneva and Wuhan took place simultaneously with the COP27 on the climate of Sharm El-Sheikh and, to follow, there will also be that on biodiversity in Montreal, from 7 to 19 December. Climate, biodiversity and wetlands are increasingly essential aspects! - comments Vania Statzu, vice president of MEDSEA, on the sidelines of the event - Safeguarding and restoring wetlands is essential both for the mitigation of climate change - wetlands are able to absorb CO2 more than other ecosystems - but also for adaptation, because they perform an important barrier action, especially in coastal areas. As ecosystems they are resilient and flexible to changes in climate and biodiversity while traditional infrastructures are damaged and often become ineffective". 

Precisely on this issue, during the days of Geneva, a resolution was presented by MedWet on "NBS", nature-based solutions, with the aim to integrate wetlands into environmental and restoration policies on a Mediterranean and global scale. 

“The science is clear, any scenario to achieve our global climate goals means radical protection and restoration of wetlands, the fastest disappearing ecosystem on the planet. Peatlands, for example, are our most efficient onshore carbon depot, - explained Dr Musonda Mumba, Secretary General of the Wetlands Convention - we need to restore 25 million hectares of wetlands lost by 2030 to reach the action level of mitigation we need to maintain as strongly indicated in the Paris target ”.