BLOGGING THE VIEW: Celebrate World Wetland Day with these fast facts

It’s time to celebrate FriYAY, but this one is more important than most as we’re also celebrating World Wetlands Day.

This might not sound as thrilling as you think, but without the wetlands, there wouldn’t be many more Fridays, so take a few moments to discover the wonders of the wetlands!

What is World Wetlands Day?

Celebrated on 2 February annually, the day seeks to raise awareness about wetlands and commemorate the anniversary of the Convention on Wetlands, which was adopted as an international treaty in 1971.

What is a wetland?

Wetlands are categorised as land areas that are saturated or flooded with water, either permanently or seasonally.

Why is the 2024 Theme ‘Wetlands and Human Well-being’?

This campaign shows how interconnected wetlands and human life are as people rely on wetlands for sustenance, inspiration and resilience. The theme calls on every person to be an ambassador for the wetlands.

Did you know?

• Nearly 90% of the world’s wetlands have been degraded since the 1700s and we are losing wetlands three times faster than forests. South Africa has lost approximately 50% of its original wetland area
• South Africa has 26 sites designated as Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar sites), with a surface area of 563 005 hectares
• Wetlands in South Africa make up only 2.4% of the country’s area, but 48% of wetland ecosystem types are critically endangered
• Of South Africa’s 791 wetland ecosystem types, 48% are critically endangered, 12% are endangered, 5% are vulnerable, and 35% are least threatened – this makes wetlands the most threatened ecosystems of all in South Africa
• Wetlands are known by many names: mangroves, estuaries, marshes, deltas, peats and bogs
• There are 5 wetland types, categorised according to their location, water chemistry, animal life, and more. The 5 types of wetlands are marine, estuarine, riverine, lacustrine and palustrine
• The Patanal, which crosses Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay, is the world’s biggest tropical wetland, spanning 42 million acres.

What do wetlands do?

• Wetlands are critically important ecosystems that contribute to biodiversity, climate mitigation and adaptation, freshwater availability, world economies, among others
• Wetlands are nature’s filtration system, filtering out water so we have access to clean water in our lakes and rivers
• Wetlands are the most biologically diverse ecosystems on the planet and home to as many as a third of the world’s endangered species
• One acre of wetlands can store up to 1.5 million gallons of floodwater, making them a natural buffer during storm surges and a frontline defence for hurricanes
• Wetlands control erosion by reducing the pressure of stormwater on the soil, reducing the likelihood of landslides
• Older freshwater wetlands help remove more carbon than they emit, helping to combat climate change and reduce climate change impacts over time.

To find out more about wetlands and what you can do, visit www.worldwetlandsday.org

SOURCES:
www.onetreeplanted.org
www.lifefromabag.com

HAVE YOUR SAY