Professor Royal Gardner, director of the Institute for Biodiversity Law and Policy at Stetson University, was invited to speak on behalf of the Ramsar Convention at a meeting of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation in New York.

The meeting on Nov. 20 marked the conclusion of 11 years of work by the board, which offered recommendations to accelerate the progress of the 2030 Water Agenda. 

Professor Gardner spoke on the role that wetlands play in the water cycle at a meeting of world leaders that included the Crown Prince Naruhito of Japan, King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands and others.

“The range of wetlands is only surpassed by the ecosystem services that these resources provide the people,” Professor Gardner said at the U.N. meeting. “By definition, the wetlands are part of the water cycle. Wetlands replenish aquifers and are the source of drinking water. Wetlands improve water quality by filtering out pollutants, and wetlands can promote protection from water-related disasters such as floods or storm surges.”

Professor Gardner is chair of the Scientific and Technical Review Panel for the Ramsar Convention, an intergovernmental wetland treaty with 169 countries. 

To learn more about the Institute for Biodiversity Law and Policy at Stetson, visit http://www.stetson.edu/law/international/biodiversity/index.php
The board's final report is available here: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/8701unsgab-journey-web.pdf