World Wetlands Day is a crucial global awareness-raising event that takes place every year on February 2nd to highlight the immense value of wetlands.
It also marks the anniversary of the International Convention on Wetlands, a celebration that has been observed since 1997.
In 2021, the United Nations General Assembly designated World Wetlands Day as a United Nations International Day, extending invitations to all 193 United Nations Member States, observer organizations, and stakeholders to participate in the commemoration.
Wetlands provide vital services to both people and the planet. They play a pivotal role in filtering water, providing a source of water, protecting against storms and floods, maintaining biodiversity, and storing carbon.
However, since 1970, more than 35% of wetlands have suffered from degradation or complete loss, and this rate of loss is accelerating.
The main objective of World Wetlands Day is to raise public awareness about the significant contributions that wetlands make to both humanity and the environment. It also aims to promote action towards conserving, wisely utilizing, and restoring wetlands.
The theme for 2023 is "Wetland Restoration," emphasizing the urgent need to prioritize the restoration of degraded wetlands and urging the younger generation to take steps toward their rehabilitation. The disappearance of wetlands is occurring at a rate three times faster than that of forests, and over 35 percent of wetlands have been degraded or lost since 1970.
Reversing this trend is critical, and this theme aligns with and contributes to the United Nations Decade for Ecosystem Restoration, a global initiative running from 2021 to 2030 that is leading and inspiring ecosystem restoration efforts worldwide.
Wetlands encompass a wide range of ecosystems where water is the primary factor governing the environment and the associated flora and fauna.
This broad definition includes freshwater, marine, and coastal ecosystems such as lakes, rivers, underground aquifers, marshes, swamps, wet meadows, peatlands, oases, estuaries, deltas, mudflats, mangroves, other coastal areas, coral reefs, and human-made sites like fish ponds, rice paddies, reservoirs, and salt flats.
The value of wetlands lies in their intrinsic significance to both people and nature.
They offer a multitude of benefits and services, including environmental, climatic, ecological, social, economic, scientific, educational, cultural, recreational, and aesthetic contributions to sustainable development and human well-being. Despite covering only about 6% of the Earth's land surface area, wetlands support 40% of all plant and animal species.
The biodiversity of wetlands plays a pivotal role in various aspects of our lives, including health, food supply, tourism, and employment. Furthermore, wetlands provide essential ecosystem services such as water regulation, flood control, and water purification, benefiting people, other ecosystems, and the climate.
Astonishingly, over one billion people worldwide, roughly one in eight individuals on the planet, depend on wetlands for their livelihoods.
It is imperative that we urgently raise national and global awareness about wetlands to reverse their rapid loss and encourage actions to protect and restore them. World Wetlands Day provides an ideal opportunity to highlight wetlands as critically important ecosystems.
The theme for 2023, "Restoration and Rehabilitation of Degraded Wetlands," underscores the significance of well-restored wetlands, as they can fulfill the same roles as pristine natural wetlands in numerous ways.
World Wetlands Day serves as a global platform to increase understanding of the immense value of wetlands. By recognizing their contributions and promoting restoration and rehabilitation efforts, we can strive towards preserving these precious ecosystems for future generations.
The theme for 2023, "Restoration and Rehabilitation of Degraded Wetlands," underscores the significance of well-restored wetlands, as they can fulfill the same roles as pristine natural wetlands in numerous ways.
World Wetlands Day serves as a global platform to increase understanding of the immense value of wetlands. By recognizing their contributions and promoting restoration and rehabilitation efforts, we can strive towards preserving these precious ecosystems for future generations.
