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A recent study showed at least 64% of our wetlands have disappeared since 1900. It is especially apparent in Asia, mainly because of extensive agriculture, booming urban development and climate change.
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Kesling Wetland and Farmstead. Courtesy of David Cornwell (Flickr)
This decline caused severe struggle both for human and other species. The WWF’s Living Planet Index shows 76% decline in populations of freshwater species between 1970 and 2010. Every year, lack of fresh water and increasing extreme weather threatens more lives.
To promote conservation of wetlands, people come together every February 2 to celebrate the World Wetlands Day. It marks the adoption date of the Convention on Wetlands in 1971, in the Iranian city of Ramsar on the Caspian shore. This year, it is Wetlands For Our Future.
Wetlands, as defined by the Ramsar Convention, include all lakes and rivers, underground aquifers, swamps and marshes, wet grasslands, peat lands, oases, estuaries, deltas and tidal flats, mangroves and other coastal areas, coral reefs, and all human-made sites such as fish ponds, rice paddies, reservoirs and salt pans.
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Wetlands Sky. Courtesy of Patrick Emerson (Flickr)
They are important to us because they purify and replenish water, and contribute to biodiversity. They also help store carbon and fight against flood and drought. As the Convention suggests, there are seven ways wetlands provide to us:
- Ensure fresh water;
- Purify and filter harmful waste from water;
- Feed humanity;
- Burst with biodiversity;
- Act as nature’s shock absorbers;
- Help fight climate change;
- Provide sustainable livelihoods and products.
Till now, the GEF has approved and funded 24 national projects and two regional and global projects on wetlands, mostly in Asia and Africa. They focus on climate change and biodiversity.
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Alligator in Shark Valley Everglades Wetlands. Courtesy of Kim Seng (Flickr)