Defending Wetlands Means Defending Water
2 February 1971: the international community adopted the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.
2 February 2021: 50 years after the Ramsar Convention, we celebrate the International Day of Wetlands to raise awareness on the pivotal role that wetlands play both for the environment and for us as a society.
What exactly are wetlands?
Wetlands are peculiar landscapes that intertwine water and land, explaining why wetlands are expressly mentioned both in SDG 6, when dealing with water-related ecosystems, and SDG 15 that focuses on terrestrial ecosystems.
In particular, wetlands are defined as “land areas that are saturated or flooded with water either permanently or seasonally”, including coasts up to six meters of depth at low tide. Wetlands are marshes, ponds, lakes, fens, rivers, and also saltwater marshes, estuaries, mangroves, lagoons, and even coral reefs.
The Mediterranean area is full of wetlands.
Why are wetlands so important?
It is estimated that coastal wetlands are five times greater carbon sinks than tropical forests, and they can trap sediments that might otherwise adversely affect seagrass beds and coral reefs. This means that wetlands are natural filters from water pollutants, implementing the importance of water safety. In addition, FAO reveals that forested watersheds and wetlands supply 75% of the world’s accessible freshwater for domestic, agricultural, industrial, and ecological needs. Not surprisingly, this year’s topic for the International Day of Wetland precisely stresses the relationship between wetlands and freshwater quality and use.
But wetlands also are home to the most richly diverse forms of biodiversity. Data confirms that 40% of the world’s species live and survive thanks to wetlands. It is a central role that they can play for the natural ecosystem, but also for us, as they represent a natural barrier from floods and storms and are central environments, especially in rice production and aquaculture.
How protected are wetlands today?
Today, only 12.6 million hectares of coastal wetlands are protected out of the 53.2 million hectares present. Global warming, sea-level rise but also anthropogenic degradation, alteration of the natural balances, and poorly managed conditions have been turning wetlands and peatland to be more susceptible to wildfire.
Last year, the journal Nature released a shocking article on the state of Pantanal, the largest tropical wetland in the world, placed in Brazil. 2020 has seen almost destroyed one-third of the area due to fires.
Restoring wetlands and implementing nature-based solutions is a duty we cannot postpone any longer. For the sake of our Planet. For the sake of our own survival. For the sake of our economy.
To move the needle, we need courage, awareness, education, action. Given the importance of delicate ecosystems such as wetlands, the Future Food Institute has already fixed for this 2021 two editions of its Boot Camp that, if the pandemic allows, will be in-person experiences for Food and Climate Shapers. 2 different stops, one in Marettimo (Sicily — July 2021) and one in Pollica (Cilento — Campania — September 2021), both in the Mediterraneo to preserve and regenerate what we have inherited from our culture, our history and from natural resources.
There is no vaccine for the current rate of biodiversity loss and degradation. But nature still offers solutions for our challenges: in a recent report published by International Labour Organization (ILO) and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), 1.2 billion jobs in sectors such as farming, fisheries, forestry, and tourism are dependent on the effective management and sustainability of healthy ecosystems.
Nature is hiring. Shall we apply?
Tags: #Water #Wetlands #Biodiversity #EarthRegeneration #MediterraneanFoodscape
The Future Food Institute is an international social enterprise that believes climate change is at the end of your fork. By harnessing the power of its global ecosystem of partners, innovators, researchers, educators, and entrepreneurs, FFI aims to sustainably improve life on Earth through transformation of global food systems.
By training the next generation of changemakers, empowering communities, and engaging government and industry in actionable innovation, FFI catalyzes progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
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