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World Wetlands Day 2021
2 February is World Wetlands Day. This year's theme, 'Wetlands and Water,' highlights the importance of wetlands as a source of freshwater and encourages action to restore them and stop their loss. This is especially important as we mark the UN Decades of Ocean Science and Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030).
Celebrated annually on 2 February, World Wetlands Day aims to raise global awareness about the vital role of wetlands for people and planet. The Day also marks the date of the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands on 2 February 1971, in the Iranian city of Ramsar on the shores of the Caspian Sea.
The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, fully named Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat, was signed in the city of Ramsar (Iran), 50 years ago. Its secretariat is at IUCN Headquarters in Switzerland, and UNESCO is the Depository Organization for signatory States.
In the 9 countries covered by the UNESCO Regional Office for southern Africa, there are 55 Ramsar sites, of which 13 overlap with other UNESCO designations: 9 with World Heritage sites, and 4 with Biosphere Reserves.
Wetlands are of major ecological importance, with high biodiversity and a wide array of ecosystem services. They are also nature’s solution for storm water buffering and flood control, water quality preservation and groundwater recharge, erosion protection, and provide nurseries for fish and other freshwater and marine animals, and carbon sequestration.
However, many wetlands across the world have undergone significant degradation with negative impacts on biological diversity and peoples' livelihoods. The Ramsar secretariat reports that global wetland losses in the 20th century were 64-71%. At the start of the Decade for Ecosystem Restoration we desperately need to reverse this trend.
