The side meeting on “Peatland conservation and restoration forum and China’s important wetland achievements release” was held both online and offline in November 10, 2022 in Wuhan, China, during 14th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (COP 14). More than 250 scientists and experts from China, US, UK and Canada joined the meeting.

The meeting was organized by International Wetlands Research League, an ANSO International Network, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology (IGA) of CAS, and Group on Earth Observations (GEO).

JIANG Ming, Director of the International Wetlands Research League gave a keynote report entitled Peatland Changes and Adaptive Management Strategies in China. Editor-in-Chief of the Journal WETLANDS, Prof. Marinus Otte from North Dakota State University gave a keynote speech entitled An outsider’s perspective of China’s Wetland Conservation Law. Prof. Christian Dunn from Bangor University gave a keynote speech entitled Using the 'enzymic latch' to Improve Peatland Restoration. Laurent Durieux, Project officer from Group on Earth Observations secretariat, gave a keynote speech entitled GEO Wetlands Initiative: Unlocking a nature-based solution for climate, biodiversity and water. Prof. Wang Yanfen from University of Chinese Academy of Sciences gave a keynote speech entitled Methane Emission and Regulation in Alpine Wetland on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Prof. Yu Zicheng from Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology of CAS gave a keynote speech entitled Global Peatland Carbon Dynamics.

WU Haitao, Secretary-general of the International Wetlands Research League presided over wetland achievements release. The press conference showed the main contents and key scientific values of the four important achievements, namely, Mires in China · Second Edition, Ecological Perspective: Wetland Ecology, Wetland Image Series, and Wetland China Popular Science Series. The new books showed the latest achievements in wetland resource survey, wetland science system construction, wetland science popularization and education in China, and provided important theoretical supports for wetland conservation and restoration research.

This side meeting helped accelerated the innovative development and international cooperation of wetland conservation and restoration, and has received extensive attention from experts and scholars in the field of wetland conservation and restoration at home and abroad, relevant management departments and all sectors of society, further expanding the international influence of the thematic alliance.