World Wetlands Day is celebrated on 2 February, an event that commemorates the signing of the Ramsar Convention in 1971, an international treaty focused on the conservation and wise use of wetlands. This year, under the slogan “Protecting and restoring wetlands for our common future“, it seeks to highlight the importance of these vital ecosystems and promote concrete actions for their protection and restoration. Wetlands represent only 6% of the earth’s surface, but they are the habitat of 40% of the world’s species of flora and fauna. In addition to being home to unique biodiversity, these ecosystems offer numerous benefits to people: they provide us with clean water, food, genetic resources, and raw materials. They also contribute to mitigating the effects of climate change, regulate and purify water and help us prevent floods. More than 1 billion people around the world depend on wetlands for their livelihoods. However, these ecosystems are in danger: since 1970, 35% of the world’s wetlands have been lost, a rate of disappearance three times higher than that of forests. Among the main threats are drainage for agricultural use, pollution, climate change and overexploitation of resources.
Strategic Plan for Wetlands to 2030
The Strategic Plan for Wetlands to 2030 seeks to avoid, halt and reverse the loss and degradation of wetlands in Spain, ensuring the conservation of the habitats and species that sustain them and guaranteeing their capacity to provide essential ecosystem services. It sets concrete priorities and targets, aligned with international commitments, such as the Ramsar Strategic Plan 2016-2024 and the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030. In addition, it defines six priority lines of action with specific measures to face the threats that affect these ecosystems in Spain.
Ramsar wetlands in Spain
Spain has 76 wetlands designated as Ramsar sites, covering more than 300,000 hectares and representing a wide variety of ecosystems, from coastal lagoons and marshes to deltas and lagoons. The Ramsar List includes wetlands of global importance, recognized for their key role in the conservation of biodiversity and the provision of essential ecosystem services . This recognition implies a commitment by countries to guarantee their protection and sustainable use, in addition to promoting their restoration in case of degradation. However, the state of conservation of these spaces is worrying: 85% are in an unfavourable situation, with high or very high pressure that affects both their extension and the quality of habitat for the species that depend on them. According to a report by the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO), only 12% of Ramsar wetlands in Spain are in a good state of conservation, while 54% are classified as “poor” or “very poor”. Coastal lagoons, in particular, are seriously threatened, which has led to requests for their declaration as endangered habitat.
Restoring and protecting: urgent action
The Biodiversity Foundation supports the conservation and restoration of wetlands through programs such as Pleamar and Empleaverde+. Within the framework of the Pleamar Programme, financed by the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (FEMPA), the LAB-MAR project is being developed, which seeks to prevent and valorise marine litter in protected wetlands such as the Maritime-Terrestrial National Park of the Atlantic Islands of Galicia, the Umia-Grove intertidal complex and the Odiel Marshes. On the other hand, the Empleaverde+ programme, financed by the European Social Fund Plus, promotes training in wetland conservation and restoration through projects such as Interparques – Inclusive Ecotourism, to improve labour insertion in sustainable tourism in wetlands; Ecoprofessionals for Sustainability, which trains for the ecological transition in the Doñana environment; Capacitar para Transform, which promotes water management in lagoons in the south of Córdoba; and ECOBIOS NEXT, for the production and sale of organic products in wetlands of the Natura 2000 Network. The restoration of wetlands is key to reversing their deterioration. For this reason, projects such as the LIFE Marbled Teal, coordinated by the Biodiversity Foundation, focus on the recovery of essential habitats for species such as the marbled teal (Marmaronetta angustirostris), the most endangered duck in Europe. Thanks to this initiative, which has the financial contribution of the European Union’s LIFE Programme, 2,300 hectares of wetlands have already been restored in several autonomous communities.
Other projects, financed through the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR), are working on the renaturation of river ecosystems, the restoration of wetlands and the mitigation of climate change in Mediterranean landscapes. Initiatives such as RESTAURALCÚDIA and BIORESILMED seek to reverse biodiversity loss and increase climate resilience in key wetlands such as the Ebro Delta and the Bay of Alcudia. This World Day is an opportunity to reflect on our relationship with nature and take concrete action to ensure that these essential ecosystems continue to be a source of life for future generations.
