World Wetlands Day – “Protecting Wetlands for Our Common Future!”
03 February 2025
“Wherever land meets water, life abounds. Wetlands exist in every corner of this beautiful planet and have often been referred to as the arteries and veins of the Earth. Majestic and mighty, wetlands are a sight to behold”.
Dr. Musonda Mumba, Secretary General of the Convention on Wetlands
On 2 February, the world celebrated World Wetlands Day under the motto “Conserve Wetlands for Our Common Future.”
Nowadays, wetlands, as one of the most sensitive and vulnerable ecosystems, are faced with various challenges such as climate change, changes in their hydrological regime, excessive use of their resources, pollution, etc. And the fact that over the past 3 centuries, nearly 90% of the world's wetlands have been degraded and are disappearing almost three times faster than forest ecosystems are disappearing is indicative of the increasingly urgent need to raise awareness among humanity about their exceptional role and significance for environmental sustainability, for maintaining biodiversity and human survival.
The celebration of World Wetlands Day is a completely new initiative, celebrated since 2022, but the date is not accidental. It is related to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, signed on February 2, 1971 in Iran. Bulgaria also signs and participates in the Convention, being represented by 11 wetlands with an area of nearly 50,000 ha. These are "Atanasovsko Lake", "Belenski Islands Complex", "Durankulak Lake", "Ibisha Island", "Shablensko Lake", "Poda Area", "Pomorie Lake", "Ropotamo Complex", "Srebarna Lake", "Vaya Lake" and "Dragomansko Blato Karst Complex".
