World Wetlands Day is celebrated on February 2 of every year. The day indicates the adoption of the convention of wetlands on February 2, 1971. World Wetlands Day is created to raise awareness among people about the importance of wetlands to human beings and the planet. The government and Non-Governmental agencies will do some activities like seminars, festivals, nature walks, announcing the new Ramsar sites, newspaper articles, wetland rehabilitation, and radio interviews on that day. So World Wetlands Day is a day to remember the beautiful and boggy parts of your world that geese, ducks, frogs, swans, flamingoes, water voles, and other sorts of waterfowls and animals require those wetlands to exist and thrive in harmony.

“Im a strong proponent of the restoration of the wetlands, for a lot of reasons. Theres a practical reason, though, when it comes to hurricanes: The stronger the wetlands, the more likely the damage of the hurricane.” – George W. Bush

History of World Wetlands Day

The day was first celebrated in 1997 and grew gradually every year. Every year, government and non-governmental organizations have taken the opportunity on that day to raise awareness among citizens about the value and benefits of wetlands to all living things in the world. From 2015, the Wetland Youth Photo Contest was conducted every February 02 to target the students and let them evolve in World Wetlands Day. The Star Alliance Biosphere Connections will award prizes to the winners (A chance to view the wetlands of their choice, which may be anywhere in the world). Since 1997, the Ramsar Website has posted articles from nearly 100 countries about their World Wetlands Day activities. In 2016, events were conducted to promote the activities and to facilitate the reports after World Wetlands Day.

World Wetlands Day 2018 - February 2

Themes

Every year, Wetlands Day is celebrated with a particular theme.

  • 1997 – “Benefits of Wetlands to the Human Population”.
  • 1998 – “Conserving wetlands to ensure availability of clean water for all”.
  • 1999 – “People and Wetlands: the Vital Link”.
  • 2000 – “Celebrating Our Wetlands of International Importance”.
  • 2001 – “Wetland world – A world to discover!”.
  • 2002 – “Wetlands: Water, Life, and Culture”.
  • 2003 – “No wetlands – no water”.
  • 2004 – “From Mountains to the Sea – Wetlands at Work for Us”.
  • 2005 – “Cultural and biological diversity in wetlands,” and the slogan was “There’s wealth in wetland diversity – don’t lose it”.
  • 2006 – “Wetlands as a tool in poverty alleviation”.
  • 2007 – “Fish for tomorrow?”.
  • 2008 – “Healthy Wetlands, Healthy People”.
  • 2009 – “Upstream-Downstream: Wetlands connect us all”.
  • 2010 – “Wetlands, Biodiversity, and Climate Change.”
  • 2011 – “wetlands and forests – forests for water and wetlands.”
  • 2012 – “Wetlands and Tourism.”
  • 2013 – “Wetlands take care of water.”
  • 2014 – “Wetlands and Agriculture”.
  • 2015 – “Wetlands for Our Future.”
  • 2016 – “Wetlands for our Future: Sustainable Livelihoods.”
  • 2017 – “Wetlands for Disaster Risk Reduction”.
  • 2018 – “Wetlands for a Sustainable Urban Future.”
  • 2019 – “Wetlands and Climate Change.”
  • 2020 – “Wetlands and Biodiversity”.
  • 2021 – “Wetlands and Water.”
  • 2022 – “Wetlands Action for People and Nature.”
  • 2023 – “It’s Time for Wetlands Restoration.”
  • 2024 – “Wetlands and Human Wellbeing”

Other Celebrations on February 2

February 2 is also celebrated as

How to Celebrate the Day

Celebrate the day by raising awareness among the people about the importance of wetlands to living things and the planet. For that, you can organize some events to understand the uneducated people easily. It is also observed at the WWF-India Secretariat, New Delhi, to raise awareness about the importance of the link between wetlands and water: “Without water, there will be no wetlands – and without wetlands, there will be no water.” Post pictures and raise awareness on social media by using the hashtag #WorldWetlandsDay.

Thank you for reading the post. You can celebrate every day with Happydays365.org and Happy World Wetlands Day 2024.