A staggering 550 million hectares of wetlands must be conserved or restored globally to reverse accelerating environmental degradation, according to the Global Wetland Outlook: Third Edition (GWO3) released today by the Ramsar Convention Scientific and Technical Review Panel. The cost? Roughly 0.5% of current global GDP a price far smaller than the economic and ecological losses at stake.
The report paints a stark picture of ongoing wetland depletion, with 411 million hectares lost since 1970, equivalent in size to the Gulf of Aden. Wetlands are disappearing at an annual rate of 0.5%, with inland marshes, swamps, and lakes hit hardest. Once seen as wastelands ripe for reclamation, these ecosystems are now recognised as critical natural infrastructure, providing clean water, food, flood control and climate resilience.
Yet despite their rising importance the global response to protect wetlands remains vastly underfunded. Current investments toward biodiversity and wetland preservation cover only one-sixth of what is needed, with nature-negative subsidies still dominating financial flows. The report warns that a business-as-usual approach will deepen the divide between the value wetlands offer and the funds invested in their survival.
“By losing wetlands, humanity has already forfeited nearly $5.1 trillion worth of ecosystem benefits,” said Ritesh Kumar, Director of Wetlands International South Asia and lead author of the GWO3. “Restoring these ecosystems is far costlier than conserving them in the first place. Prevention must become our priority.”
The total value of ecosystem services provided by wetlands ranges between $7.9 and $39 trillion annually, accounting for up to 36% of global GDP. Yet these services remain grossly undervalued in most policy and economic decisions. Peatlands, marshes, swamps, and rivers offer high returns in water purification, carbon storage, flood protection, and biodiversity, but lack of investment and policy integration threaten their survival.
GWO3 emphasizes the need to embed natural capital accounting into national planning, ensuring that the true economic value of wetlands influences infrastructure, agriculture, and urban development policies. The report urges governments to eliminate subsidies that promote wetland degradation and redirect resources toward nature-positive actions.
In light of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which mandates restoration of degraded ecosystems and the protection of 30% of the planet by 2030, wetlands must become a central focus. Achieving this goal will require not just public funding, but blended finance strategies that tap into private capital, international aid, and climate adaptation funds.
The report also calls for an enabling policy environment and capacity development across all levels. Without a clear investment roadmap and financial tools tailored to wetland conservation, it warns that ambitions will falter.
As the Ramsar Convention prepares for its 15th Conference of the Parties later this year, GWO3 is expected to shape negotiations on a new Strategic Plan for wetlands. Delegates will consider adopting a transformative agenda that prioritises embedding wetland values in governance, not just ecology a critical shift if the world hopes to halt wetland degradation before it’s too late.