World Wetlands Day 2017 ” Wetlands for Disaster Risk Reduction”

wwd17_logo_e_hori_rvbThe World Wetlands Day (WWD) is celebrated every year on 2 February to commemorate the signing of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands in the Iranian city of Ramsar in 1971.

 

 

 

The theme for WWD 2017 “Wetlands for Disaster Risk Reduction” is chosen to emphasize the importance of these ecosystems as a natural, effective and less costly solution than other hard measures taken to reduce disaster risk and the effects of climate change.

 

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Wetlands have a vital, yet not fully recognized, role for disaster risk reduction and to mitigate the effects of climate change. This comes as a result of some key wetland functions such as those of:

  • Flood control to reduce the impacts of floods which can be catastrophic. This function has a value, on average, of 265 million euros per year in France according to the Ministry of Environment (read more here).
  • Climate regulation through carbon storage, especially in peatlands;
  • Protection from extreme weather events such as lagoons that provide coastal protection against storms;
  • Natural water storage performed by marshes and ponds; restitution in the dry period (thus fighting against drought); and the moisturing role in the fight against soil compaction.

Every year since 1997, governmental and non-governmental organizations and citizen groups at all levels of society have taken advantage of WWD’s opportunity to launch actions to raise public awareness of the values and benefits of wetlands in general, and the Ramsar Convention in particular.

This year, the Ramsar Convention Secretariat makes available different types of materials to governments, associations and other stakeholders seeking to communicate raise awareness and promote the celebration of World Wetlands Day on 2 February 2017.

 

Communication materials

Posters :

  • Main poster for getting involved in World Wetlands Day
  • Wetlands Youth Photo Contest Poster to encourages entries in the Wetland Youth Photo Contest from 2 February to 2 March 2017
  • In Design file to create your own poster event.
posteryouthphotocontest

 

Hand-outs:

handoutenENGLISH VERSION:

– Wetlands: a natural safeguard against disasters.

– Five wetlands that help us cope with extreme weather events.

– Wetlands sustain lives. How can we take care of them?

ARABIC VERSION:

Handout 1

Handout 2

Handout 3

Wetland is a water bank

You will also find a Comic Strip  that gives information about the role of wetland for disaster risk reduction.

We also translated the Comic:

in Arabic, find it here

In Greek, find it here

In Spanish, find it here

In Turk, find it here

In Italian, find it here

Several other materials are available here.

 

MedWet logotipo-original-colorThe MedWet cartoon produced in 2015 is another useful tool to show the services provided by wetlands, especially in the Mediterranean.

See the English version with Arabic subtitles here.

 

For more information

please visit the official website of WWD 2017:

http://www.worldwetlandsday.org/