World Wetlands Day
Next: February 2, 2027
Marshes, mangroves and rice fields too.
The story
Where it comes from
World Wetlands Day marks the anniversary of 2 February 1971, when the Convention on Wetlands was signed in the Iranian city of Ramsar. The treaty still works to reverse the loss and decline of wetlands worldwide, which are disappearing three times faster than forests. In 2021 the UN General Assembly made the date a UN day. Wetlands include lakes and rivers, swamps and peatlands, mangroves and coral reefs, and human-made places such as fishponds, rice paddies and saltpans.
How it's celebrated
Nature reserves and wetland parks run guided walks, birdwatching mornings and clean-ups, and schools head out with nets and notebooks to see what lives in the water. Governments use the day to name new protected sites. Anyone can join in by visiting a local marsh, mangrove boardwalk or riverside park and simply looking closely.
Did you know
- Wetlands cover only around 6 per cent of the Earth's land surface, yet 40 per cent of all plant and animal species live or breed in them.
- About one person in eight on Earth makes a living from wetlands.
- There are more than 2,500 wetlands of international importance under the convention, together covering an area larger than Mexico.
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