Last updated: 1 February 2021

Wetlands are home to an extraordinary variety of creatures and are fundamental to human sustenance; they also hold great value thanks to their capacity to store carbon dioxide, thereby mitigating the effects of climate change, and to protect coastlines.

What is a wetland

A "wetland" is, as the name suggests, an environment characterised by the simultaneous presence of land and water; these are areas "such as ponds, marshes, peatlands, natural and artificial basins with permanent stagnant or flowing fresh, brackish or salt water, including marine areas whose depth at low tide does not exceed six metres", as stated in the international Ramsar Convention.

Wetlands, a fragile treasure trove of biodiversity

Wetland areas therefore hold great natural value and provide shelter and sustenance for numerous species; unfortunately, these ecosystems are extremely fragile and are among the most threatened in the world. The main threats to wetlands are all of human origin: pollutants used in agriculture, industrial and civil discharges, the massive exploitation of resources, land consumption and the introduction of non-native species.

Wetlands improve our lives

Beyond their intrinsic and undeniable beauty, wetlands offer us numerous ecosystem services. They help maintain the microclimate and protect coastlines from erosion, provide hundreds of litres of water every day, underpin the rice-cultivation system — the staple food for around 20 per cent of the world's population — and make a decisive contribution to the economy: 660 million people depend on fishing and aquaculture. Sustainable tourism linked to wetlands, finally, supports 266 million people.

A treasure worth saving

Since 1900, 65 per cent of wetlands — often regarded as mere wasteland — have disappeared. It is precisely to protect this shared heritage of lakes, marshes, peatlands, river mouths, lagoons and coastal marine shorelines that World Wetlands Day is celebrated on 2 February, established in 2003 on the occasion of the International Year of Freshwater declared by the United Nations.

Why this date

The chosen date corresponds to the signing of the Ramsar Convention, which took place on 2 February 1971 in the Iranian city of the same name, enshrining the worldwide protection of these habitats, signed with the aim of promoting "the conservation and wise use of wetlands through national and international cooperative action for the achievement of sustainable development".

The 2021 theme

This year the focus is on the indissoluble bond between wetlands, water and life: three inseparable elements.

Wetlands and cities

The slogan for the 2020 edition of World Wetlands Day was Life thrives in wetlands – Wetland biodiversity matters. It highlighted the extraordinary biological variety found in these ecosystems, the importance of that biodiversity for our species, and aimed to promote actions to reverse its loss.

Convention on Wetlands ✓ @RamsarConv

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25% of wetland species are threatened with extinction.
Conserve #wetlands to end #biodiversity loss.

Tomorrow 2 February is #WorldWetlandsDay

RT to raise awareness - #WetlandBiodiversityMatters.

worldwetlandsday.org

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Wetlands in Italy

In Italy, WWF is responsible for the conservation of these distinctive environments and protects many wetland areas that make up a large part of the association's more than one hundred nature reserves. In our country, wetland areas currently cover a surface area of 82,331 hectares, and 40 per cent of biodiversity (and almost 50 per cent of bird species) is linked to these environments.

Discovering wetlands with Legambiente

In 2020, Legambiente organised numerous initiatives to discover and appreciate wetlands: from guided excursions to birdwatching hides, from conferences to volunteer actions to restore these areas. In 2021, too, the calendar is packed with online events, offering enthusiasts across the peninsula the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of these extraordinary environments and their inhabitants.