International wetlands meeting scheduled for Wuhan in 2022

The 14th meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands will be held next year in Wuhan, capital of Central China's Hubei province, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration said on Monday.

With a focus on cherishing wetlands and achieving harmonious coexistence between humans and nature, the meeting will last from Nov 21 to 29, 2022. It will be the first time for China to host this international meeting, the administration said.

During the meeting, a series of important issues, including the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and the development strategies of the convention, will be reviewed and discussed.

The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, also known as the Convention on Wetlands, is an intergovernmental treaty signed in 1971 and entering into effect in 1975.

With representatives of its contracting parties meeting every three years, the aims of the treaty are to boost the reservation, restoration and reasonable use of wetlands, as well as make contributions to global sustainable development by facilitating national action and international cooperation. 

China joined the treaty in 1992 as its 67th contracting party, and has since taken proactive actions in response to global challenges, such as the reduction of wetland areas and the degradation of ecosystems.

Its actions include legislating on wetland reservation, implementing related regulations, conducting wetland surveys and launching protective and restorative projects.

So far, China has 64 wetlands of international importance, 29 nationally important wetlands, 602 wetland nature reserves and 1,693 wetland parks, the administration said.