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Research ArticlePerspectives
Open Access

Ramsar Convention and the Wise Use of Wetlands: Rethinking Inclusion

Deepa Joshi, Bryce Gallant, Arunima Hakhu, Sanjiv De Silva, Cynthia McDougall, Mark Dubois and Indika Arulingam
Ecological Restoration March 2021, 39 (1-2) 36-44; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3368/er.39.01-02.36
Deepa Joshi
International Water Management Institute and Water, Land and Ecosystems, Colombo, Western Province, Sri Lanka.
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Bryce Gallant
International Water Management Institute and Water, Land and Ecosystems, 1138 McCalman Ave, Winnipeg, MB, Canada, R2L 1H9,
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Arunima Hakhu
International Water Management Institute and Water, Land and Ecosystems, New Delhi, Delhi, India.
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Sanjiv De Silva
International Water Management Institute, Colombo, Western Province, Sri Lanka.
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Cynthia McDougall
WorldFish, Bayan Lepas, Penang, Malaysia.
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Mark Dubois
WorldFish, Yangon, Myanmar.
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Indika Arulingam
International Water Management Institute, Colombo, Western Province, Sri Lanka.
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ABSTRACT

The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands emphasizes the “wise use” of wetlands by conserving the ecological character of wetlands while managing the socio-economic value these landscapes hold for different stakeholders. Reviewing the Convention obligations, resolutions, and guidelines through a feminist political ecology lens, we find them to be overtly simplistic and technocratic. A deliberately generic framing of socio-ecological interrelations and of economic trade-offs between wetland uses and users obscures broader political and social contexts which shape complex nature-society interrelations in the use, management, and governance of wetlands. Poverty, the cultural significance of wetlands—particularly for indigenous communities—and gender equality have only recently been considered in wetlands management and governance guidelines and interventions. These recent additions provide little insight on the power imbalances which shape plural values, meanings, experiences, and voices in wetlands use and governance, especially for the most marginalized of wetlands users. We welcome the call for a “reformulation” of a socio-ecological approach to managing and governing wetlands, but caution that unless wetlands governance structures and processes are re-politicized, changes in policies and approaches will likely remain rhetorical.

  • © 2021 by the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System

This open access article is distributed under the terms of the CC-BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0) and is freely available online at: http://er.uwpress.org

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Ecological Restoration: 39 (1-2)
Ecological Restoration
Vol. 39, Issue 1-2
March and June, 2021
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Ramsar Convention and the Wise Use of Wetlands: Rethinking Inclusion
Deepa Joshi, Bryce Gallant, Arunima Hakhu, Sanjiv De Silva, Cynthia McDougall, Mark Dubois, Indika Arulingam
Ecological Restoration Mar 2021, 39 (1-2) 36-44; DOI: 10.3368/er.39.01-02.36

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Ramsar Convention and the Wise Use of Wetlands: Rethinking Inclusion
Deepa Joshi, Bryce Gallant, Arunima Hakhu, Sanjiv De Silva, Cynthia McDougall, Mark Dubois, Indika Arulingam
Ecological Restoration Mar 2021, 39 (1-2) 36-44; DOI: 10.3368/er.39.01-02.36
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