World Wetlands Day marks the signing of the Convention on Wetlands, called Ramsar Convention, on 2 February 1971, in the Iranian city of Ramsar on the shores of the Caspian Sea. The Convention uses a broad definition of wetlands. This includes all lakes and rivers, underground aquifers, swamps and marshes, wet grasslands, peatlands, oases, estuaries, deltas and tidal flats, mangroves and other coastal areas, coral reefs, and all human-made sites such as fish ponds, rice paddies, reservoirs and salt pans.

World Wetlands Day was first celebrated in 1997. Since then government agencies, non-government organizations and community groups have celebrated World Wetlands Day by undertaking actions to boost public awareness of wetland values and benefits and promote the conservation and wise use of wetlands. These activities include seminars, nature walks, and festivals, announcement of new Ramsar sites, newspaper articles, radio interviews and wetland rehabilitation. The World Wetlands Day theme for this year is “Wetlands and Climate Change”. Wetlands play a critical role in storing carbon and reducing the impact of extreme weather events associated with climate change. They store floodwater and can protect coastlines from storm surges.

Wetlands

Wetlands are land areas that saturated by surface or groundwater, it occurs in two different forms, permanent or seasonal. Wetland is an area of mainly saturated soil that can support the prevalence of hydric soil adapted plants. Wetlands are perfect combination of water and land, and one the most biologically diverse ecosystems in the world. There are many kinds of wetlands, including swamp, marsh and bog which filled with trees, grasses, shrubs and moss. Wetlands exist in every country and in every climatic zone, from the Polar Regions to the tropics, and from high altitudes to dry regions.

4 types of Wetlands

As we said, there are many different types of wetlands that occur all over the world. We are going to explain four important wetlands and where they are placed.

Bogs

Natural process of decaying vegetation filling older kettle ponds or lakes and it creates bogs. Bogs have unique soils that are highly acidic and largely derived of nutrients and oxygen. Historically, bogs have been readily depreciated and are highly threatened wetland systems. These wetlands are fantastic for preventing downstream flooding since they absorb precipitation as it falls and prevents the swelling of rivers and other waterways.

Fen

A type of wetland ecosystem classified by peaty soil, dominated by grasslike plants, grasses, sedges, and reeds. They are alkaline rather than acid areas, the most important places for receiving its water are surface and groundwater sources. Like bogs, fens are beneficial because they can help prevent the flooding of land elsewhere, since they soak up water from the ground and prevent it from seeping anywhere else.

Marsh

A frequently inundated wetland characterized by grass-like and other emergent vegetation adapted to saturated soil conditions. Marshes can be freshwater or saltwater and amount of water in the marsh can change with the seasons. Typical marsh plants include rushes, reeds, sedges, cattails, and grasses. They are wet areas which can be periodically covered by standing or slow-moving water and are usually associated with ponds, rivers, streams, inland lakes, and the Great Lakes. Although some marshes have sandy soils, marshes usually have finer textured, nutrient rich soils with a high content of organic matter.

Swamps

Swamps are totally different from marsh. They are dominated by woody plants (rather than soft-stemmed plants). Many of these trees are often harvested by people from all over the world to make timber and to build their homes, which can affect the ecosystem drastically if too many are taken without being replaced with new saplings.