Charles Sturt University, Australia
https://www.csu.edu.au/research/gulbali/find-experts/profiles/aquatic-science/max-finlayson

Interactions Between Human Well-Being and Wetlands Health in the Anthropocene

University of Helsinki (INAR/Physics); Head of Climate system research unit
Finnish Meteorological Institute

Boreal wetlands and climate warming

Sarawak Tropical Peat Research Institute (TROPI), Maludam National Park, Sarawak, Malaysia

Tropical wetlands

Groupe de recherche en écologie des tourbières, Université Laval, Canada

Reviving Peatland Ecosystems with Moss Magic: Harnessing Sphagnum and Brown Mosses for Ecological Restoration

Peatlands, critical wetland ecosystems known for their role in carbon storage, water regulation, and biodiversity support, are under increasing threat from human activities such drainage for agriculture, overgrazing, mining industry, urban development and peat extraction. Restoring these ecosystems is essential for mitigating climate. One promising approach to peatland restoration involves reintroducing Sphagnum mosses for cutover bogs. These mosses play a pivotal role in peatland ecology due to their remarkable ability to retain water and create acidic, nutrient-poor conditions conducive to peat formation.

Sphagnum mosses, often referred to as "ecosystem engineers," are particularly effective at capturing and storing carbon. Their unique cellular structure allows them to retain large amounts of water, creating saturated conditions that slow down decomposition processes and promote peat accumulation making them invaluable for climate change mitigation efforts. Despite the self-amplifying feedback of Sphagnum mosses, peatland restoration worldwide still relies primarily on rewetting actions. Recent studies, including meta-analyses (2024), models (2021), and review syntheses (in press), partly based on monitoring 177 degraded peatlands in Canada, highlight the potential of emergent trait-driven feedbacks for successful restoration.

Fen brown mosses, while less widely recognized, also play a crucial role in peatland carbon sequestration. They thrive in slightly different conditions compared to Sphagnum mosses, often inhabiting minerotrophic (nutrient-rich) peatlands. To improve rich-fen restoration, the water table crux for peatland recovery will be discussed based on more than 200 peatland studies across temperate and northern regions.

Integrating Sphagnum and brown mosses into restoration projects involves careful site assessment, selection of appropriate species, and management of hydrological conditions. Successful restoration efforts not only revive peatland ecosystems but also enhance their capacity to act as carbon sinks, water regulators, and biodiversity hotspots. Harnessing the "moss magic" of Sphagnum and brown mosses thus represents a vital strategy in the global effort to restore peatland ecosystems and mitigate climate change.

Arctic Program Director in Woodwell Climate Research Center, USA

Dr. Jennifer Watts is a systems ecologist who studies interactions between carbon and water cycles, land use and climate change. Dr. Watts specializes in Northern Hemisphere dynamics through field study, remote sensing and ecosystem modeling. Many of her studies focus on greenhouse gas accounting and ecological monitoring. She has a deep appreciation of all ecosystems, though peatlands are her favorite.

Presentation title: Permafrost Thaw and Global Warming: Perspectives for Arctic Wetlands?

Czech University of Life Sciences, Prague, Czechia

Perspectives for Constructed Wetlands as Nature -Based Solutions for Sustainable Water Management

University of Notre Dame, Broome, Australia

Professor Anne Poelina citizen Nyikina Warrwa (Indigenous Australian) Nation, PhD, PhD, MEd, MPH&TM, MA. Chair & Senior Research Fellow Indigenous Knowledges Nulungu Institute Research University of Notre Dame, Adjunct Professor, College of Indigenous Education Futures, Arts & Society, Charles Darwin University, Darwin. Anne was the Murray Darling Basin (MDB) inaugural First Nations appointment to its independent Advisory Committee on Social, Economic and Environmental Sciences (2022). Visiting Fellow Water Justice Hub at The Australian National University, Canberra. Inaugural Chair of the Martuwarra Fitzroy River Council (2018). Co-winner of the Women Taking Climate Action Award, awarded by the Zonta Club of Melbourne on Yarra and the Zonta International District 23 Zonta Says NOW team (2023). Awarded Kailisa Budevi Earth and Environment Award, International Women’s Day (2022) recognition of her global standing.

Ambassador for the Western Australian State Natural Rangelands Management (NRM) (2023). Assistant Commissioner National Water Initiative (NWI), Productivity Commission -Australia (2024). Member of the Commonwealth Department Climate Change Energy the Environment and Water, Indigenous Advisory Committee (2024).
Founding member of the Commonwealth Department Climate Change Energy the Environment and Water, Aboriginal Water Interest Group and the Western Australian government Aboriginal Water and Environment Group (AWEG). In 2017, she was awarded a Laureate from the Women’s World Summit Foundation (Geneva). Anne is a Peter Cullen Fellow for Water Leadership (2011).
See www.annepoelina.com & www.livingwaterheritage.org

Knowing Living Ground Water

First Australians, Indigenous peoples of Australia have managed the living water systems of Australia from the beginning of time.  This knowledge and lived experience showcase relationships and connectivity of our people, to land and water as being alive and in communication with human and non-human kin. This presentation is a provocation for an alternative conception to the scientific hydrogeological knowledge and approach that informs extractive and exploitative interests in the Martuwarra Fitzroy River, see: www.livingwaterheritage.org. In this alternative view, developed on a foundation of ancestral personhood, we tease out the entangled skeins of Martuwarra knowledges, languages, deep histories, and stories, to propose a just and equitable approach to ground water extraction and the importance of co-governance in water planning, extraction and management for the region. In developing this alternative vision for River governance, we highlight the critical role that Martuwarra Indigenous worldviews and ancient knowledges and practices have in shaping understandings of the River ecosystem. Importantly, why this intergenerational knowledge is important to protect and care for these living water systems and their connectivity to the wellbeing of Country (land), people, biodiversity and our non-human kin, see www.annepoelina.com.

Keywords Indigenous science, groundwater, Martuwarra Fitzroy River, water capitalism, intergenerational knowledge transfer, governance

35percent, Cobra Collective and
Society of Wetland Scientists Europe, UK

Dr. Matthew Simpson is a director of 35percent, an independent wetland specialist consultancy, and has over 25 years’ experience in managing wetland-related conservation, research, assessment and management projects. Matthew is also Co-Director of the Cobra Collective, that empowers marginalised communities through participatory engagement approaches and innovative technologies.

Matthew has managed conservation, research, management and capacity building projects in Europe, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, South America and North America. He is currently the President of the Society of Wetland Scientists Europe, an accredited Professional Wetland Scientist and recent President of the Society of Wetland Scientists Professional Accreditation Program. He is a committee member of the Constructed Wetland Association, is an observer on the Scientific & Technical Review Panel for the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, is a member of the Ramsar Wetland City Accreditation Independent Advisory Committee and is a member of the International Association for Ecology’s Working Group on Wetlands.

Presentation title: Rights of Wetlands – Transformative change to mend the broken human-wetlands relationship