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Knowledge4Policy
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Supporting policy with scientific evidence

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  • Publication | 2025

Agriculture and wetlands: Supporting farmers and practitioners towards ssustainable food systems and healthy catchments

Global Food and Nutrition Security

Agriculture and wetlands: Supporting farmers and practitioners towards sustainable food systems and healthy catchments shares guidance from the Convention on Wetlands’ Scientific and Technical Review Panel. Drawing on 18 case studies and Technical Report 13, the brief explains how wetland degradation—driven by drainage, over-abstraction and agrochemical runoff—undermines the very water regulation, nutrient cycling and biodiversity on which farming depends.The brief sets out five priority actions and implementing them will strengthen food security, climate resilience and biodiversity while safeguarding wetlands for future generations. The brief also flags evidence gaps—especially for small-scale, under-documented farming systems—and calls for research on nature-based solutions, detailed technical guidance for specific production systems, and tools that balance ecosystem-service trade-offs at catchment scale.By placing wise-use principles at the centre of agricultural development, this policy brief provides Contracting Parties, practitioners and investors with a clear roadmap for achieving sustainable food production in wetland landscapes.