World Wetlands Day 2016 - 2 February 2016

Thursday, January 14 , 2016 6402

2 February each year is World Wetlands Day. This day 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.

Each year since 1997, the Ramsar Secretariat has provided materials so that government agencies, non-governmental organizations, conservation organizations, and groups of citizens can help raise public awareness about the importance and value of wetlands.
 

Wetlands for our Future 2016: Sustainable Livelihoods is the theme for World Wetlands Day in 2016. This theme is selected to demonstrate the vital role of wetlands for the future of humanity and specifically their relevance towards achieving the new Sustainable Development Goals.

Livelihoods from fishing, rice farming, travel, tourism, and water provision all depend on wetlands.  And wetlands are vital to us in many other ways.  They host a huge variety of life, protect our coastlines, provide natural sponges against river flooding, and store carbon dioxide to regulate climate change.

Unfortunately, wetlands are often viewed as wasteland, and more than 64% of our wetlands have disappeared since 1900.

Enabling people to make a decent living, and at the same time ensuring that wetlands can still provide their essential benefits, do not have to be conflicting goals!

- See more at: http://www.worldwetlandsday.org/en/#sthash.eea3o9YX.dpuf

UEF supports this 2016 World Wetlands Day.