Wetlands under threat
WITH 40% of the world’s species reliant in some way on wetlands, the loss of these valuable places is forcing many species to the brink of extinction. Over the last 300 years, a staggering 87% of the world's wetlands have been lost. During this time, hundreds of thousands of hectares have been drained to provide land for housing, industry and agriculture.
Eighty percent of our global wastewater is released into wetlands untreated. Pollution from factories, fertilisers, pesticides or from major spills, all pose serious threats to wetlands.
As well as being threatened by pollution, wetlands also have an important role in addressing it. They can act as natural filters, helping to remove pollutants from the water.
In fact, they have the potential to remove up to 60% of metals, trap and retain up to 90% of sediment runoff and eliminate up to 90% of nitrogen.
Wetland Action for People and Nature is the theme for World Wetlands Day 2022, and it appeals for investments in the form of financial, human and political capital to save the world’s wetlands from disappearing, and to restore those already degraded.
Did you know that the Mediterranean region has lost 50% of its natural wetlands since 1970? Unfortunately, human beings continue to destroy them.
Managing wetlands is a global challenge. Reaching proper management and protection of these areas requires complex interventions. The first step to protecting these areas is to raise awareness of their characteristics, importance and fragility.
Despite their importance, these areas are often undervalued by communities. Those communities, institutions, non-governmental organisations and private sector are fundamental stakeholders.
Therefore, effective involvement and participation support collective decision-making for protecting wetlands and securing their sustainable management against future threats.
Conserving wetlands is a complex process that demands a multidisciplinary approach, sharing knowledge and information, strengthening institutional weaknesses, and building capacity and responsibility of all stakeholders to manage and conserve wetlands sustainably.
Rivers, lakes, wetlands, the sea, and more generally water, are global assets, not properties of a single country.
They are interconnected. Knowledge and public awareness, inclusivity, co-operation, nature-based solutions and sustainable development, including integrated water resources management, should be part of the framework for tailored management and lasting solutions.
Calls are being made to every individual in communities to be part of a variety of events aimed at raising awareness such as lectures, seminars, nature walks, children’s art contests, community clean-ups, including participating in radio talk shows and writing newspaper opinion pieces on this subject, as part of their contribution against this scourge.
The bottom line is that the world needs wetlands , and wetlands need the world.