World Wetland Day
In Ramsar in 1971 February second, The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance was adopted. 2021 is the 150th celebration of World Wetlands Day.
A wetland area is identifiable by water being the main characteristic of the landscape. It is an area where the soil is covered with water all year or for varying periods, particularly during the growing season, always retaining saturated soil and acting as a natural carbon sink. By regulating streamflows, they are responsible for the reduction of droughts and floods. They also serve the purpose of purifying water by trapping sediments and removing pollutants, which helps to purify water, as well as provide habitat for a diverse array of plants and animals.
Wetlands are crucial for climate adaptation. Peatlands are a type of wetland that covers 3% of the world and store nearly a third of all land-based carbon. Salt marshes, mangroves, and seagrass beds are categorized as Coastal wetlands and are one of the most carbon-dense ecosystems. Inland wetlands absorb excess rain to slow down the movement of water and distribute the water over the floodplain more evenly, thus preventing flooding from occurring and delaying droughts.
Even though there is plentiful scientific evidence suggesting the importance of wetlands over the past 45 years a third of the wetlands have been lost, disappearing at three times the usual rate. With global warming being a risk factor, the loss of wetlands has turned these areas into emission sources due to the burning and draining of peatlands for a tenth of the annual fossil fuel emission.
Indonesia has the third-largest area of peatlands worldwide, homing the most tropical peatlands in the world, storing 60 billion tons of carbon. Indonesia is part of the Global Peatlands Initiative, with plenty of mangroves on the continent, storing 3 billion tons of carbon.
In South Africa wetlands cover only 8% of the land area, and provide 51% of the population’s water source, and support 64% of the economy.
11 percent of Uganda’s landmass is covered by wetlands, sustaining the country’s water sources and agricultural productivity, such as creating breeding grounds for large-scale fisheries. They are facing encroachment, overexploitation, and degradation of its wetlands. Population growth is contributing to major water depletion and increasing the chances of flooding, through the increasing encroachment on swathes of urban and rural wetlands. Over 15 years Uganda has lost 30% of its wetlands which has contributed to the damage of the ecosystem, such as the silting of water bodies. To counter the deterioration of Uganda’s wetlands they have signed onto the Paris Agreement and placed goals for themselves to strive towards with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), by introducing a three-pronged approach that is dedicated to restoring wetlands and enhancing communities’ climate change adaptation capacity and resilience.
Did you know our favorite childhood movie ‘Shrek’ lives in a freshwater swap which is a type of wetland?
Swamps are flat land around lakes or streams majority of woody vegetation and are nutrient-rich environments with slow run-off. Homing river otters, all the way to freshwater shrimp.
References:
Gov.za. 2021. World Wetlands Day 2021 | South African Government. [online] Available at: <https://www.gov.za/speeches/world-wetlands-day-2021-19-oct-2020-1048?gclid=CjwKCAiAu8SABhAxEiwAsodSZFmt1NnB0tWSug26vGFio8GKTFtqp6pLkx6wieWBzll8evlm4zq6vhoCbDgQAvD_BwE>
Worldwetlandsday.org. 2020. Story detail – WorldWetlandsDay. [online] Available at: <https://www.worldwetlandsday.org/story/-/detail/wetlands-are-a-natural-solution-to-climate-change?redirect=/stories>
Worldwetlandsday.org. 2020. Story detail – WorldWetlandsDay. [online] Available at: <https://www.worldwetlandsday.org/story/-/detail/wetlands-are-a-natural-solution-to-climate-change?redirect=/stories>
Worldwetlandsday.org. 2021. Story detail – WorldWetlandsDay. [online] Available at: <https://www.worldwetlandsday.org/story/-/detail/indonesia-creates-expert-wetlands-team-to-revitalize-development-goal-efforts?redirect=/>
Worldwetlandsday.org. 2020. Story detail – WorldWetlandsDay. [online] Available at: <https://www.worldwetlandsday.org/story/-/detail/south-africa-integrating-water-management?redirect=/stories>
Worldwetlandsday.org. 2020. Story detail – WorldWetlandsDay. [online] Available at: <https://www.worldwetlandsday.org/story/-/detail/preserving-uganda-s-wetlands-secures-a-brighter-future-for-country-and-planet?redirect=/stories>
The Wetlands Initiative. n.d. What Is a Wetland? — The Wetlands Initiative. [online] Available at: <http://www.wetlands-initiative.org/what-is-a-wetland>
