World Wetlands Day marked in Portugal with several activities
Swamps, ponds, lakes, rivers and marshes are part of the so-called wetlands, important for the conservation of biodiversity and for climate regulation.
Celebrated since 1997 and recognized by the United Nations in 2021, World Wetlands Day has this year’s theme “Protecting wetlands for our common future”.
In a statement on the occasion, the Secretary-General of the Convention on Wetlands, Musonda Mumba, warns that “unsustainable development, pollution and climate change continue to threaten these essential ecosystems”, adding that “protecting wetlands for our common future requires collaboration on policies, regulations and community initiatives that promote effective conservation and sustainable and rational use”.
According to the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests (ICNF), 35% of these ecosystems have been lost worldwide since 1970, “a percentage that rises to more than 85% if we go back to 1700”.
The organization’s online page states that “one in three freshwater species, as well as 25% of all species in wetlands, face extinction due to the deterioration” of those areas.
The loss of wetlands is mainly attributed to their conversion to agricultural areas.
The Convention on Wetlands is an intergovernmental treaty, adopted on 2 February 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramsar, which is why the pact is generally known as the “Ramsar Convention”, representing “the first of the global conservation treaties”.
The pact came into force in 1975 and currently has 169 contracting countries on all continents, which have already designated around 2,200 sites of international importance.
Portugal, which signed and ratified it in 1980, has 31 wetlands classified as Ramsar Sites, including the Tagus, Sado and Mondego estuaries, the Rias Formosa and Alvor, the Albufeira, Santo André and Sancha lagoons, the Madriz, Tornada and Boquilobo marshes and the Castro Marim salt marshes.
In the Azores, the Graciosa caldera and the Corvo caldera, the Sete Cidades volcanic complex, the fajãs of Cubres and Caldeira de Santo Cristo and the central plateaus of Terceira and Flores are other places classified as Wetlands of International Interest.
Regarding activities planned to mark the date, the Florestas.pt platform reports a field trip on Tuesday to Charco das Austrálias, in the park with the same name in Matosinhos.
In Sesimbra, the day is marked with the official inauguration on Sunday of the Environmental and Sports Activities Centre (CAAD), created by the local authority, which together with the Portuguese Society for the Study of Birds (SPEA) and the ICNF organises a guided tour to collect data on birds, reptiles, mammals, plants and fungi, complemented by the collection and analysis of macroinvertebrates, in the Albufeira Lagoon – Lagoa Pequena.
According to the local press, in the Protected Area of Lagoas de Bertiandos and São Pedro d’Arcos (Ponte de Lima), classified as an International Wetland, an “interpretative walk” will take place on Sunday, while several environmental associations have planned several activities for the same day in Alagoas Brancas (Lagoa).
For the Ria de Alvor Nature Site, a “5 Km Challenge” walk is scheduled between 2:30 pm and 4:00 pm, followed by a snack and in Serra da Estrela, a circular interpretative route will be carried out, 14 kilometers long and with a very high level of difficulty, through the Ramsar Site Planalto Superior da Serra da Estrela and Upper Part of the Zêzere River.