"We are not powerless against climate change. Wetlands are a natural solution. Stop draining wetlands. Restore, Use wisely, Conserve."
This is a clear, straightforward message which I suspect even Greta Thunberg would get behind. It's something we can actively promote in our own communities.
Today is World Wetlands Day, a fact I learned from one of our local radio stations this afternoon. Until I heard the announcer mention this, I was blissfully ignorant there was such a thing as World Wetlands Day, that it happens the second day of February every year, and that this year its focus is on the close links between wetlands and combating climate change.
Why should we care about wetlands, regardless of climate change?
The World Wildlife Fund puts it succinctly here:
Wetlands are critical to human and planet life. Directly or indirectly, they provide almost all of the world’s consumption of freshwater. More than one billion people depend on them for a living and 40 per cent of the world’s species live and breed in wetlands. They are a vital source for food, raw materials, genetic resources for medicines, and hydropower; they mitigate floods, protect coastlines and build community resilience to disasters, and they play an important role in transport, tourism and the cultural and spiritual well-being of people.
And here's a potentially surprising perspective from the same link:
Studies show the economic value of services provided by wetlands far exceeds those of terrestrial ecosystems. Inland wetlands, for example, have a total economic value five times higher than tropical forests, the most valuable terrestrial habitat. (emphasis mine)
How did World Wetlands Day come about?
World Wetlands Day is a product of the Ramsar Convention.
The Ramsar Convention has been around for a long time, with its original adoption in 1971 coming just a short 9 years after the publication of Rachel Carson's seminal work "Silent Spring", which arguably kicked off the environmental movement in 1962 (coincidentally the year I was born). It came into force in 1975, and since then,
almost 90% of UN member states, from all the world’s geographic regions, have acceded to become “Contracting Parties”.
The Convention's mission is:
"the conservation and wise use of all wetlands through local and national actions and international cooperation, as a contribution towards achieving sustainable development throughout the world".
The Ramsar site goes on to say:
The Convention uses a broad definition of wetlands. It includes all lakes and rivers, underground aquifers, swamps and marshes, wet grasslands, peatlands, oases, estuaries, deltas and tidal flats, mangroves and other coastal areas, coral reefs, and all human-made sites such as fish ponds, rice paddies, reservoirs and salt pans.
Under the “three pillars” of the Convention, the Contracting Parties commit to:
- work towards the wise use of all their wetlands;
- designate suitable wetlands for the list of Wetlands of International Importance (the “Ramsar List”) and ensure their effective management;
- cooperate internationally on transboundary wetlands, shared wetland systems and shared species.
Danone, evian and Ramsar collaborate to promote World Wetlands Day.
What are some of the key messages this World Wetlands Day?
Here are some easy to communicate messages from the site:
They also encourage amateur photographers to add their photos to the conversation.
Besides photographers, they want kids to get involved, and what a great way - by getting them to do something fun: colouring in a poster.
Now here's a really good way to get kids involved!
Here's what the author of this Facebook post had to say about the community coming out to clean up the local dam:
Sunday 27 January: A volunteer clean-up took place today at Lonehill Dam and wetland, not far from Monte Casino in Fourways, Johannesburg. Around Lone Hill - the koppie - is a little piece of conserved nature – a remnant of what this part of the world looked like before development. The small dam nearby is a popular walking spot for local residents.
ARMOUR (Action for Responsible Management Of Our Rivers) committee member, Mark Mcclue, was there. “One team cleared rubbish from the top of the spruit as it enters Lonehill. It is amazing how much plastic rubbish can enter the spruit, in a short stretch of a few hundred metres. The other apparent factor, very evident from last night's storm impact, is the speed and volume of run-off with its resulting erosion.
“The second team tackled the massive volume of invasive weed that is choking the dam.”
There is a difficult, emotive debate between parties, says Mark. “Some want a clear dam to look nice and to fish in. Others suggest adapting the man-made feature to incorporate the natural run-off of the spruit through restoring the wetland. There is a view that the dam could be encouraged to become one wetland system with channels and pools for dealing with storm run-off and attracting more indigenous flora and fauna. This perhaps would be more sustainable. Either way – it was great to see another example of the community getting involved at a localised level and listening to the water!”
Whatever the reason, kids were out in force cleaning up the dam. What a terrific way for them to help, and to raise awareness.
And what are the linkages to climate change?
Some of the resources on the World Wetlands Day site give an idea of the sheer magnitude of the importance of wetlands to capturing atmospheric carbon, so reducing the potential of greenhouse gas emissions to warm our global climate. These include:
- mangroves store 50x more carbon than tropical forests (50x!! but the area of mangroves is much smaller than the area of tropical forests - do not remove. Unfortunately both are under extreme threat from a variety of human development initiatives.)
- coral reefs blunt tsunamis - do not destroy
- peatlands cover 3% of the Earth's land, yet store 30% of all carbon - do not drain
- wetlands absorb carbon - drained wetlands release carbon
- seagrasses absorb carbon 35x faster than rain forests - do not destroy (obvious note - this doesn't mean the wholesale destruction of the rain forests - particularly through large scale fires, is therefore okay)
- wetlands function like shock absorbers. They buffer our coastlines from extreme weather. Of which we are experiencing an inordinate increase....
- wetlands are like sponges. They absorb flood waters during storms. Live in Queensland, Australia, where the city of Townsville is experiencing unprecedented monsoon rains and associated flooding, causing people are having to flee their homes in boats through thigh deep water on roads which have become rivers? I have no idea whether their urban development has led to local wetlands being drained...but if that's the case, urban planners in the area might start looking differently at flood prevention.
It might look like such a monumental task that it's impossible for one individual to make a difference...but why not try in your own community?
References
https://www.worldwetlandsday.org/
https://www.ramsar.org/
http://wwf.panda.org/wwf_news/?335575/Worlds-wetlands-disappearing-three-times-faster-than-forests
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/feb/02/queensland-floods-townsville-reels-under-record-water-levels-as-more-rain-arrives
