The motto chosen for the World Wetland Day 2025 (“Protect and restore wetlands for our common future”) He wants to attract attention to the essential role that these irreplaceable spaces play for our own existence, since we depend on these essential ecosystems that support life, including ours.
It reminds us that healthy wetlands are essential for our long -term survival and well -being. It underlines the urgency of a determined action to protect and restore these natural habitats, the need for collaboration and forecast to forge a future in which future generations can continue to benefit from the vital services provided by the wetlands.
Wetlands are a source of clean water that we drink, supply food, raw materials and genetic resources, offer livelihoods, mitigate climate change, help reduce the impact of natural catastrophes.
In addition, in the wetlands life thrives and plays a crucial role in the maintenance of biodiversityalso offering us many recreational, tourist, cultural opportunities, and even artistic, aesthetic, emotional and spiritual inspiration. Wetlands do a lot for humanity, and have done it throughout history, and to ensure a future it is our shared responsibility to take care of, conserve, protect and, if necessary, restore wetlands.
He World Wetland Day 2025 It is celebrated once again today February 2. A date of great importance when it comes to raising awareness about how fundamental restoration is, Protection and preservation of these ecosystemsfor the health of the world environment and the beings that inhabit it.
Why are World Wetland Day 2024 on February 2?
He World Wetlands Day It was established as a way to celebrate the signing of the Convention on Wetlands. This happened in the Iranian city of Ramsar, just February 2, but from 1971.
It is the first, and the only one until today, international treaty related to the protection and importance of a specific type of natural environment. The Ramsar Convention It is the one that serves as a framework to conserve wetlands and make a consistent and rational use of their resources.
Definition of wetland
It is a transition space between Earth and water. It constitutes a place where there is permanent or temporary presence of shallow water. This can be sweet or salty. And is always accompanied by vegetation adapted to this type of soil or regular immersion.
Some examples of wetlands are:
- Lagoons
- mangroves
- albuferas
- coral reefs
- Internal seas
- seafood
- Ponds
- Wet meadows
- lagos
- Bahías
- Pebbles
- Ponds
- Wet forests
- swamps
Wetlands cover only 2.6% of the planet, but play a crucial hydrological role. However, since 1900, more than 64% of the world’s wetlands have dried, degraded or destroyed, mostly due to anthropogenic causes.
In 2018, more than 2,200 wetlands of international importance were designated ‘Ramsar Sites’. They cover about 2.1 million square kilometers, almost 4 times the surface of Spain. Doñana, the Tables of Daimiel, L’Obufera de Valencia or Mar Menor, are some of the protected wetlands of our country.
What benefits do wetlands have?
Wetlands are very useful ecosystems. They are essential as a habitat of certain species, many of them intimately dependent on their existence, as is the case of migrant birds. Or of those that are endemic to local wetlands.
His role in the fight against global warming is of great importancebut it has many more functions. This is because thanks to the characteristics of the wetlands they act as:
- Extremely efficient carbon sinks, at the point of retaining they retain almost 30% of the entire terrestrial co₂, which implies twice what all the forests of the planet add.
- walls against the effects of Climate change (coastal erosion, floods, droughts)
- Water reservoirs and natural filters that improve water quality, facilitating its purification and eliminated impurities and pollutants
- Important shelters for Biodiversity
- Source of resources for human beings (food, medicines, etc.)
“Hettleals and human well -being”
It is of great importance to value the intrinsic and interdependent relationship between humans and wetlands. We need them to survive, since, if they disappeared, the global ecological balance would be broken. And they need our activities to respect them, that we actively contribute to their recovery and to avoid at all costs that degrade.
Wetlands present not one but a multitude of facets, each more interesting than the other. In fact, these environments fulfill various functions that give them biological, hydrological, economic, patrimonial, educational, sociological values. Unfortunately, multifunctional paper and interdependence of wetlands have often observed and understood after their destruction.
Therefore, the World Wetland Day 2025 Bet on this not to happen again. Based on the fact that the information is key to preserving and caring for environments, this year’s issue indicates that we do not wait for it to assess how useful and necessary us are, these incredible ecosystems.