The World Wetlands Day takes place every 2nd February to mark the signing of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands on the 2nd February 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramsar. This year the selected theme is Wetlands and water management, chosen especially as 2013 is the UN International year of water cooperation. The slogan is simple, effective and strong- Wetlands take care of water-.

The MedWet Secretariat has created an adaptation of the poster designed by the Ramsar Secretariat and UNESCO’s International Hydrological Programme for World Wetlands Day (WWD) 2013, for the Mediterranean region. If you wish to print copies of the posters in English and French, please click on the links below . To adapt the message to your own language, please send us an e-mail at info@medwet.org.

Download the English poster	Télécharger l’affiche en français

The selected theme for 2013 raises awareness on a very important issue- the interdependence of wetlands and water. Wetlands play a major role in the availability and quality of water. They are integral components in the hydrological cycle and contain most of the water utilised to meet human needs. Water resource management is largely dependent on the hydrological functions of wetlands and equally wetland ecosystems need a minimum amount of water to maintain these functions. The wise use of wetlands is essential for the delivery of sustainable water management that also promotes sustainable economic and social development. The WWD2013 theme aims also to bring to the forefront issues of water governance and the fragmented, sectoral way in which they have largely been managed as well as the issue of transboundary water management.

Mediterranean wetlands take care of water

We decided to adapt the material for the Mediterranean region because it is one of the regions in the world facing the highest water stress, receiving only 3% of the annual, global freshwater resources while it concentrates 7.3% of the world population. Overall water demand has doubled since 1960 with agriculture being the highest water demanding sector (64% of all water consumed in the region), followed by industry and energy (22%), and domestic consumption (14%). In addition, severe water losses of up to 40% are caused by water mismanagement due to inefficient networks and inappropriate techniques. The dramatic loss of wetlands in the region since the turn of the century, make the message of this WWD2013 all the more important.

Last February 2012 in Agadir, Morocco,  the International Symposium on Water and Wetlands in the Mediterranean largely recognized and recommended to take into account the crucial link between water and wetlands and make it better understood by all sectors. The message that without wetlands there is no water and without water there is no life must be disseminated by the wetland communities as widely as possible to other sectors and to the wider public.

The activities organized for the WWD by MedWet countries, members and partners serve this exact purpose and a full report of these activities will be published on our website and will be given in our next newsletter. Hopefully, they will provide inspiration to all of us for the World Wetland Days to come.