For the general public, ‘COP’ tends to mean the climate COP, UNFCCC, however there are COPs for many different Conventions. ‘Ramsar COP15’ is shorthand for ‘the 15th meeting of the ‘Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Convention on Wetlands’.
Zimbabwe hosted COP15 at the Victoria Falls Wetland of International Importance in 2025, and so holds Presidency of the Convention for the following three years. Read the formal documents here. WWN made four formal written interventions as well as other interventions to Plenary sessions from the floor, as well as member interventions in their own name. We will have a report later in the year on this and the other ways we interacted with the Convention at COP15.
Watch recordings of WWN’s COP15 side events
Watch the World Wetlands Survey report launch at COP15.
See more findings from the Survey and download a summary.
OECMs x Rice Paddies. Other Effective area-based Conservation Measures with a focus on wetlands.
Full details of the event on the official COP15 website.
Civil society pre-COP meeting 2025
We started our preparation for COP15 in April 2024, with a visioning workshop. See the agenda and summary. In 2025 we held two online workshops to connect and prepare for civil society participation at COP15. Read the summary report. We invited participants to prepare with this summary of the Draft Resolutions and activities of most interest to WWN. We will share news during COP15 in a WhatsApp chat for civil society.
What is COP?
Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Representative María Elisa Sánchez prepared this fun explainer video about what happens at COP.
Convention on Wetlands 101
We partnered in this webinar explaining how the Convention on Wetlands works, providing key knowledge when interacting with the Convention.
- What is the Convention, COP, Standing Committee, wise use of wetlands
- How do you designate a wetland of international importance, aka Ramsar site?
- At a national level: delivery and national reporting
- Communication, Capacity, Education, Participation, Awareness
- Ramsar Regional Initiatives
- Wetland City Accreditation
Nominating a Youth Focal Point
We created a video to guide Contracting Parties on nominating their Youth Focal Points and to also to guide youth in their roles as YFP, watch our video: How to nominate a Ramsar Youth Focal Point and what are their responsibilities? closed captions available in your language.
PDF versions of the Youth Focal Point presentation available in English, Spanish and French.
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