World Wetland Day celebrated across the globe

World Wetland Day: 2 February

World Wetland Day was celebrated across the globe on 2 February 2014. The theme for this year’s World Wetland Day was Wetlands & Agriculture.

The Ramsar Convention chose Wetland & Agriculture as theme for World Wetland Day 2014 in view of the UN declaring 2014 as International Year of Family Farming.

Slogan for the occasion was Wetlands and Agriculture: Partners for Growth placing a focus on the need for the wetland and agricultural sectors (and the water sector too of course) to work together for the best shared outcomes.

Wetlands have often been seen as a barrier to agriculture, and they continue to be drained and reclaimed to make farming land available. But the essential role of wetlands in support of agriculture is becoming clearer and clearer, and there are successful agricultural practices which support healthy wetlands.

World Wetland Day is observed on this day because on 2 February 1971 the Ramsar Convention was adopted.

About Ramsar Convention

The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, called the Ramsar Convention, is an intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources.

The Ramsar Convention is the only global environmental treaty that deals with a particular ecosystem. The treaty was adopted in the Iranian city of Ramsar on 2 February 1971 and the Convention's member countries cover all geographic regions of the planet.