Wetlands are the richest ecological systems. Today, they make up only 6% of the Earth’s surface, and 40% of all plant and animal species live in them. In 1971, 116 countries of the world, including Croatia, tried to prevent the further devastation of wetlands, which until recently people considered unnecessary and dirty, signed the Ramsar Convention. This convention obliges the preservation of wetlands on its own territory. The Croatian list includes Lonjsko polje, Mokro polje, Kopački rit, and the lower reaches of the Neretva and Crna Mlaka.
This year, the International Day of Wetlands is celebrated with the theme “It’s time for restore wetlands”.
Let’s recall some of the reasons why it’s time:
- Only 2.5% water on Earth is freshwater
- Wetlands store more carbom than forests
- Wetlands are being lost three times faster than forests
- They are the Earth,s most threatened ecosystem
- More than 80% of all wetlands have disappeared since the 18th century
- Wetlands are being drained and filled in for agriculture and urban construction
- Water pollution are harming wetland ecosystems
- Wetland species are facing extinction – 25% of all wetland species face actual extinction
