Southern Africa Ramsar Regional Initiative

Under the auspices of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, the Ramsar Regional Initiatives (RRIs) are intended as operational means to provide effective support for an improved implementation of the objectives of the Convention and its Strategic Plan. The Southern Africa Ramsar Regional Initiative is under construction and is being assisted in its implementation by the French Government, the French Biodiversity Agency, NatureXpairs and MedWet. The first SARRI workshop was held on 20 and 21 May 2024, in La Réunion Island (France). Organized by NatureXpairs,  with the support of the French Biodiversity Agency and benefiting from the expertise of MedWet, IUCN, the Ramsar Secretariat Senior Advisor for Africa Region and the SADC Secretariat, this workshop brought together twenty-two participants representing the SARRI member countries and their partners. The main objective of this first workshop was to make collective progress on the development of a governance model and operation of the initiative, while identifying the first common issues to be addressed in an action plan for the SARRI.