Celebrating World Wetlands Day 2012

On Thursday 2nd February, the Earth Trust joined hundreds of other organisations and community groups to celebrate World Wetlands Day 2012.

This annual celebration, which has been running since 1997, marks the 41st anniversary of the adoption of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. The Convention was adopted in 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramsar on the shores of the Caspian Sea, and represents the commitments of its member countries to maintain the ecological character of their wetlands. The convention promotes the idea of planning for "wise use", or sustainable use, of all of the wetlands within each member country.

The convention uses a broad definition of the types of wetlands covered in its mission, including lakes and rivers, swamps and marches, wet grasslands and peatlands, oases, estuaries, deltas and tidal flats, near-shore marine areas, mangroves and coral reefs, and man-made sites such as fish ponds, rice paddies, reservoirs and salt pans.

Wetlands and Tourism

The theme for this years World Wetlands Day was 'Wetlands and Tourism', a theme that is linked to the subject of the next meeting of the Conference of the Parties taking place in July 2012 in Bucharest, Romania. Wetlands tourism is vital factor in the management of wetland areas and has benefits both locally and nationally for people and wildlife, including promoting stonger economies, sustainable livelihoods, healthy people and thriving ecosystems.

Wetlands at the Earth Trust

The concept of "wise use" of wetlands promotes habitat management that allows sustainable use of wetlands and their resources for the benefit of human kind, while maintaining the ecological character of the wetland area.

At the Earth Trust we manage and protect several wetland areas such as Thrupp Lake at Radley, Riverside Meadows, Mowbray Fields and our Great Crested Newt ponds. These areas are vital wetland habitats, supporting thousands of vertebrate and invertebrate species as well as significant plant life. They also have important recreational value, providing a place where people can explore, experience and discover nature without risk of damaging or disturbing it.

For more information about World Wetlands Day 2012, visit www.ramsar.org   

Earth Trust Wetlands: Thrupp Lake | Riverside Meadows | Mowbray Fields | Newt Ponds