Messages

World Wetlands Day Messages and Statements

Martha Rojas Urrego, Secretary General, Convention on Wetlands

28 January 2022

World Wetlands Day is an opportunity to engage all stakeholders at all levels – to strengthen and multiply action for wetlands.

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Jacques Trouvilliez, Executive Secretary of the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA)

28 January 2022

Without a doubt, wetlands are critical waterbird habitats, the conservation of which is of primary importance for AEWA. Increasing global action...

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Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

02 February 2022

By working to restore and protect wetlands, we can protect this vital link in our fragile ecosystem that supports life on our planet. We can...

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Inger Andersen, Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

01 February 2022

When we protect, use wisely and restore wetlands, we safeguard what matters most because four billion people rely on the services that wetlands...

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Achim Steiner, Adminstrator, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

01 February 2022

“Healthy wetlands ecosystem services are worth US$47 trillion annually, provide livelihoods for one billion people, and are critical for protecting...

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Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, Executive Secretary, Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)

28 January 2022

“We will not achieve biodiversity conservation, climate change mitigation and adaptation or the Sustainable Development Goals unless we restore...

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Ivonne Higuero, Secretary-General, CITES

01 February 2022

We know that 40 % of the world’s plants and animals depend on wetlands and we know that without them we can’t achieve the sustainable development...

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QU Dongyu, Director- General, Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO)

28 January 2022

Wetlands and water resources play crucial and irreplaceable roles in achieving the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals. On this first...

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Mark Smith, Senior Director of Water Systems at CGIAR and Director General of IWMI,

01 February 2022

IWMI's work on wetlands aligns very well and very closely with the theme of World Wetlands Day this year: Wetlands Action for People and Nature....

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Lord Goldsmith, UK Minister for the Pacific and the International Environment

01 February 2022

We need to act urgently, particularly as wetlands can help us tackle global challenges from biodiversity loss and climate change, to poverty and...

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Jane Madgwick, Chief Executive Officer, Wetlands International

28 January 2022

“As we need wetlands to protect nature and humanity from the most devastating impacts of climate change, we should make everyday World Wetlands...

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Amy Fraenkel, Executive Secretary of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS)

28 January 2022

Wetlands are important habitats for many migratory species listed under the Convention on Migratory Species. Millions of migratory waterbirds such...

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Stories

Swamps need saving, how can we invest in them?

02 February 2022

Wetlands ecosystem services are worth US$47 trillion annually, supporting the livelihoods of one billion people and supporting life on this earth....

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Reef Insurance for Habitat Restoration: Mexico

01 February 2022

In the wake of Hurricane Delta in 2020, dozens of local volunteers, collectively called the Reef Brigades, gathered on the beaches of Quintana Roo,...

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Community Collaboration for Fisheries Management: Thailand

01 February 2022

In the early 1990s, communities of Pgagayaw, or Karen, indigenous peoples noticed a decline in fish, partly due to people from outside their...

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Global Advocacy and Community Partnership for Mangrove Conservation: Mexico

01 February 2022

Over the last 20 years, mangrove forests have shifted from being one of the fastest-diminishing habitats on Earth to being one of the best protected.

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Aquaculture Partnership for Oyster Restoration: United States

01 February 2022

Oyster reefs help protect shorelines from erosion by serving as natural buffers against rising tides and hurricanes. But despite the many benefits...

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Indigenous Leadership for Floodplain Management: Australia

01 February 2022

In 2013, the Australian and New South Wales governments bought back 880 square kilometers in the Lowbidgee floodplain that encompassed an area now...

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Protection for Free-Flowing Rivers: Montenegro

01 February 2022

The Zeta River (“Zeta”) in Montenegro is one site where the burgeoning freshwater protection movement has achieved victory. A biodiversity hotspot,...

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The Netherlands extends its protected wetlands on Bonaire

12 October 2021

The Netherlands has extended all its Wetlands of International Importance on the island of Bonaire in the Dutch Caribbean to five times greater...

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United Nations General Assembly proclaims 2 Februrary as World Wetlands Day

06 September 2021

The resolution proclaiming 2 February as World Wetlands Day comes at a critical moment amid the global biodiversity and climate change crisis to...

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Spain adds Atlantic archipelagoes to the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance

The Site is part of a long-term research collaboration between scientists, National Park managers and institutions to understand the ecological...

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Mobilizing Wetlands Action: The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands renews partnership with Danone

07 September 2021

The partners hope increased visibility of the benefits wetlands provide, coupled with practical scientific knowledge, will accelerate global action...

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New investments to grow blue carbon in South Australia

South Australia’s reputation as a world leader in blue carbon has been bolstered with nearly $2 million of new investment that will drive...

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