Geneva, 2 February 2023 (TDI): United Nations (UN) celebrates World Wetlands Day on 2 February and aims to raise awareness about the essential role of wetlands for people and the planet.
This day also marks the date of the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands on 2 February 1971, in the Iranian city of Ramsar.
The international community celebrates World Wetlands Day to raise awareness about wetlands to reverse their rapid loss and encourage actions to conserve and restore them.
This year’s theme is “It’s Time for Wetlands Restoration,” which highlights the urgent need to prioritize wetland restoration.
Degradation of Wetlands
Since 1700, 90 percent of the wetlands degraded and the world is losing wetlands three times faster than forests.
They are important ecosystems that contribute to biodiversity, climate mitigation and adaptation, freshwater availability, and world economies.
Moreover, Wetland’s ecological services contribute $47.4 trillion annually to human health, happiness, and security.
It is very important and urgent to create awareness about the necessity of wetlands.
It is urgent to raise awareness at the national and international levels to reverse their rapid loss and encourage actions to conserve and restore them.
World Wetlands Day is a time to increase people’s understanding of these critically important ecosystems.
Bruno Oberle, Director General of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), said that only 7% of our planet’s land surface area represents wetlands yet it is a significant portion of the ecosystem.
Wetland ecosystems are the most efficient carbon sinks on Earth.
Restoring them will also save species and bring back ecosystem health.
This Day, people and communities must place wetlands at the center of national restoration approaches. Only then can the world would be able to overcome the twin climate and biodiversity crises.
Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, said that restoring wetland ecosystems addresses sustainable development from all angles.
It also produces multiple benefits by provisioning food and water security, conserving biodiversity, increasing resilience, combatting climate change, and reducing the risk of disaster.
