The International Network of Basin Organisations (INBO) is co-organising the global workshop on the conservation and restoration of ecosystems in transboundary basins, held on 16 and 17 June 2025 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, under the auspices of the Water Convention and with the support of the UNECE.
This workshop is organised under the leadership of France, Slovenia and Zambia, co-leaders of programme 3.6 ‘Promoting the conservation and restoration of freshwater and water-related ecosystems in transboundary basins’.
The event is also organised in partnership with the European Union, the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, The Nature Conservancy (TNC), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
The overall objective of the workshop is to strengthen international cooperation to accelerate the conservation and restoration of transboundary freshwater ecosystems, with the aim of improving biodiversity, resilience to climate change and water security. The workshop focused on the benefits, challenges and limitations of protecting these ecosystems, which are often a driving force for cooperation around shared waters.
International mobilisation for concrete action
Discussions focused on the benefits, challenges and limitations of actions to protect and restore shared aquatic ecosystems. In particular, the workshop highlighted concrete cases of successful cooperation, illustrating how ecosystems can serve as a gateway to transboundary cooperation.
By bringing together a wide range of institutional, technical and scientific stakeholders, the workshop promoted the sharing of good practices and the identification of opportunities for collaboration between the various sectors concerned (water, climate, biodiversity). It was held in the six official languages of the United Nations.
The concept note, programme and presentations are available here: