World Wetlands Day is an environmentally related celebration which dates back to the year of 1971 when several

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gathered to reaffirm the protection and love for

wetlands A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

, which are the small environments of plant life and organisms found within water bodies that bring about ecological health in abundance to not only water bodies but environments as a whole. The World Wetlands Secretary Department is originally from Gland, Switzerland and in accordance to the beginning of World Wetlands Day, the Ramsar convention first attributed this recognition in "the Iranian city of Ramsar on the shores of the Caspian Sea". World Wetlands Day is celebrated on the second day of February every year, though it was not originally celebrated until 1997. This day serves to the influence and positive production that Wetlands have had on the world and in terms brings communities together for the benefit of Mother Nature. This day, also raises global awareness because wetlands play a significant role not only in people but in the planet. Community protectors and environmental enthusiast all come together on this day to celebrate their love for nature through celebration, which recognises what wetlands have done for not only us humans, but all sorts of organisms in this world. Over time, human construction has led to various ecological problems affecting wetlands. Overpopulation and construction has led to a decrease in environmental conservation and in total has brought upon issues to these lands. Many wetlands are being lost and ecologists claim that human should recognise the dilemma before the loss of a natural filter and conserver of the world.

Partnership

Since 1998, the Ramsar Secretariat have partnered with Danone Group Evian Fund for Water (based out of Paris and founded in Barcelona, Spain) for financial support. For the Ramsar Secretariat, also known as Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat, this financial support has produced a variety of outreach materials which include logos, posters, factsheets, handouts and guide documents to support country activities organized to celebrate WWD. These materials are available for free download on the World Wetlands Day website in the three languages of the Convention: English, French, and Spanish. With that being said, all the materials are also available in their design files for event organizers to customize and adapt them to their local languages and contexts. A few print copies are available to countries upon request to the Secretariat.

World Wetlands Day Youth Photo Contest

Starting in 2015, a month-long Wetlands Youth Photo Contest that starts on 2 February, was introduced as a part of a new approach to target young people and get them involved in WWD. People between ages 15 through 24 can take a picture of a certain wetland and upload it to the World Wetlands Day website between the months of February and March. Thanks to

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Biosphere Connections, the prize awarded to the winner of the photo contest is a chance to visit a wetland of their choice from the over 2200 Ramsar Sites all over the world. Since 1997 the Ramsar website has posted reports from about 100 countries of their WWD activities. In 2016 a map of events was introduced to help countries promote their activities and to facilitate reporting after WWD.

World Wetlands Day Themes

Each year a theme is selected to focus attention and help raise public awareness about the value of wetlands. Countries organize a variety of events to raise awareness such as; lectures, seminars, nature walks, children’s art contests, sampan races, community clean-up days, radio and television interviews, letters to newspapers, to the launch of new wetland policies, new Ramsar Sites and new programs at the national level. The theme for World Wetlands Day in 2023 is expected to be "Wetlands Restoration" and it will based on the restoration of wetlands

External links

World Wetlands Day official website

Ramsar Convention official websiteNational CleanUp Day

References

{{reflist Environmental awareness days February observances International observances