ISLAMABAD: The World Wetlands Day was observed across the globe, including in Pakistan, on Friday. The theme for the day this year is “Wetlands and human wellbeing”.
Its goal is to highlight how all aspects of human wellbeing “physical, mental, and environmental” are tied to the health of the world’s wetlands. Every year, World Wetlands Day is observed to raise awareness for the importance of wetlands for human lives and the planet.
Wetlands are characterised by ecosystems that are primarily covered with water- water is the main controlling factor in such ecosystems with animal and plant lives.
Wetlands can be both freshwater or marine or coastal, consisting of swamps, wet grasslands, marshes, coral reefs and mangroves. Manmade sites such as rice paddies, reservoirs, saltpans and fishponds are also parts of wetlands.
Wetlands contribute immensely to the lives of people and animals, as well as to planet Earth. They are very significant for the environment.
Wetlands cover only six percent of the earth, but more than forty percent of animal and plant species live and breed in wetlands. The Ramsar Convention, named after the Iranian city of Ramsar, was an international treaty for the conservation of wetlands.
The treaty was signed on February 2, 1971. Since then, the day is observed. On August 30, 2021, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 75/317 and hence established February 2 as World Wetlands Day.
