Introduction
World Wetlands Day (WWD) is an international day for wetlands, celebrated every year on 2 February. The day was established by the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat in 1982 to raise awareness about the importance of wetlands for humanity and wildlife. The Convention's aim is "the conservation and wise use of all wetlands through local, regional, national and international cooperation".
The Ramsar Convention
The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands is an intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources.
It was adopted in 1971 in Ramsar, Iran, and came into force in 1975. The most recent COP12 meeting was held in Dubai, UAE from 4 to 8 February 2018.
The Convention has been ratified by 196 countries (only Liechtenstein has not ratified it), covering over 2 million square kilometers of the land surface around the globe - about 9% of Earth's land area - as well as marine waters beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ).
What are wetlands?
Wetlands are areas of land that are covered with water for at least part of the year. They can be found on every continent except Antarctica, and they provide us with clean water and renewable food sources.
There are many different types of wetlands, including swamps, marshes, bogs (also called muskegs), fens and peatlands. Swamps have trees that grow in very wet soil; marshes are filled with grasses or reeds; bogs have sphagnum moss growing on top of their surface; fens have layers of vegetation around a small pond; peatlands contain dead plant material that has been compressed into peat over thousands of years
Why are we celebrating World Wetlands Day?
You may not know it, but wetlands are an important part of your life. They provide clean water and food, natural protection from floods and erosion and even renewable energy!
Wetlands are a crucial source of clean water: they act as natural filters that remove toxins from rivers before they reach the sea. This makes them vital for people who live near them; in fact, over half of all people on Earth rely on wetlands for their drinking water.
Wetlands also help protect us against disasters like floods by absorbing excess rainfall during storms - which means less damage to property downriver! And because they're so good at absorbing runoff (that's rainwater), wetlands can actually slow down rising sea levels by reducing how much saltwater enters our oceans through evaporation from land-based sources like lakes or marshes."
Celebrate!
Celebrate World Wetlands Day by planting a tree, cleaning up a local river or stream, and volunteering at your local nature reserve. You can also attend an event to celebrate this special day and learn how you can help protect wetlands for future generations.
People around the world are working together to protect their local, natural environments which provide us with clean water and renewable food sources.
Wetlands are a vital part of our natural environment. They play an important role in the ecosystem, acting as natural filters for pollution and providing us with clean water to drink, cook and bathe in. Furthermore, wetlands provide us with renewable sources of food like fish, shellfish, and plants that can be used as medicines or food additives.
An important function of wetlands is their ability to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through photosynthesis by plants such as reeds or rushes growing in them (known as phytoremediation). This helps reduce harmful greenhouse gases like CO2 which contribute towards global warming - another reason why we should protect our wetlands!
Conclusion
Wetlands are an important part of our planet and we need to protect them. They provide many services for humans, including water filtration and flood control. Wetlands also provide food for many animals and plants that live there.
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