In November 2016, GEO-Wetlands has been approved by GEO-XIII Plenary in St. Petersburg and is now officially part of the GEO Work Programme 2017-2019 as a new GEO initiative. Currently, a website for GEO-Wetlands is being developed, with a first version already available at www.geowetlands.org. Different working groups have been set-up, e.g. on Mangroves, Capacity Building and the GEO-Wetlands Portal with several others being planned. The initiative is co-lead by the University of Bonn, Wetlands International and the Ramsar Convention Secretariat.
GEO-Wetlands is closely linked with GEO BON and collaborating with several of its working groups and Biodiversity Observation Networks (BONs). Especially with the Marine BON and the proposed Freshwater BON several discussions about potential cooperation, common projects and data exchange have been started during the last year. In addition, closer collaboration with GEO BON regarding Ecosystem Services, Essential Biodiversity Variables and the BON in a Box development are foreseen for the future.
For further information visit www.geowetlands.org or mail to: info@geowetlands.org