Despite commitments by global signatories of the Ramsar Convention to undertake systemic assessment of designated wetlands, research had revealed that virtually none had been done globally and that the lack of practical tools for rapid assessment was a principal obstacle. The Rapid Assessment of Wetland Ecosystem Services (RAWES) approach was developed to address this gap.
RAWES was adopted by a Ramsar Resolution in October 2018, and has since been widely used around the world. The RAWES approach is based on methods used by its originators over many years across multiple habitat types and settings. RAWES has subsequently been applied to diverse situations ranging from the Himalayas, deserts, the built environment and more. Systemic assessment of wetlands shines a light on prevalent narrow understandings of how wetlands function, and the consequent suboptimal realisation of their benefits including, for example, when advanced as ‘nature-based solutions’. Systemic vision can support the optimisation of beneficial outcomes from design and management of natural and constructed wetlands, built infrastructure and wider habitat management.
