Today the Convention on Wetlands launched its annual global campaign to mark World Wetlands Day.
Amid rising pressure for international action on environmental crises, the campaign: Wetlands action for people and nature calls for all of society to value wetlands and scale-up efforts for their protection and restoration.
This year’s campaign marks the first UN World Wetlands Day, following the UN General Assembly’s resolution in 2021 to designate it an international day. Emphasizing wetlands’ critical services for human and planetary health, the Assembly acknowledged the urgency to protect wetlands and their valuable contributions for sustainable development.
Martha Rojas Urrego, Secretary General of the Convention on Wetlands said: ‘Wetlands are life providers. They contribute services worth US$47 trillion annually: including almost all of our fresh water, food, raw materials and life medicines. But despite these critical benefits, we are losing wetlands three times faster than forests. It’s critical that actions to protect, manage and restore wetlands are raised in the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework and countries’ nationally determined contributions to deliver the scale of impact we need.’
The campaign calls for actions from all of society to take urgent actions to reverse wetlands loss: whether through mobilizing finance, transforming agricultural practices, reducing water waste, contributing to restoration efforts or supporting local wetland clean ups.
‘We know what we have to do and we know how to do it’, says Martha Rojas Urrego. ‘We need action from all of society to rewet and restore wetlands to save our most biodiverse and valuable ecosystem for people and nature.’
Visit the World Wetlands Day website for campaign events, activities and messages.
Watch Martha Rojas Urrego, Secretary General of the Convention on Wetlands' full statement.
