World Wetlands Day: a call to conserve biodiversity

World Wetlands Day, celebrated annually on February 2, aims to raise awareness about the crucial role that wetlands play on the planet, and to highlight important actions to ensure its conversation and sustainability.

Wetlands are among the ecosystems with the highest rates of decline, loss, and degradation, following current negative trends, including human and environmental factors linked to pollution, and climate change.

Ramsar Sites are currently found in over 2,400 locations around the world. The Ramsar Site covers over 2.5 million square kilometers and is also known as “The Convention on Wetlands”, an international environmental treaty that was established in 1971 by UNESCO in the Iranian city of Ramsar on the Caspian Sea.

In Morocco, there are 38 Ramsar sites, covering 316.086 hectares, including Aguelmams Sidi Ali in Ifrane, Valley Lakhdar in Beni Mellal, Sidi Boughaba, and Fouarat river in Kenitra.

As the world celebrates Wetlands day on February 2, Hespress EN spoke to the founder of the Oxygen association for environment and health, Ayoub Krir.

The Founder of the Kenitra-based association emphasized that wetlands are facing major threats, including degradation of these spaces due to reasons such as building real estate projects, or factories.

“In Kenitra, the Fouarat river is facing a major threat, following its strategic location, which pushes many investors to take advantage of it in building real estate projects,” he added, noting local authorities and civil society don’t do anything to help save this wetland space.

“The Fouarat river was known for a long time ago for its biodiversity, including hydric soils, a rich source of water, and different species,” he said, adding, “even rare species such as migratory birds.”

“However, this wetland space is getting destroyed time after time due to causes mainly linked to human and environment, including rapid human population growth, unsustainable production, and non-governance of consumption, as well as climate change,” Ayoub Krir specified.

The Oxygen association for environment and health’s founder said his association launched an awareness-raising campaign in 2017, aiming to protect the Fouarat’s space by planting 300 trees, which surrounded the whole place for more protection, like “a border.”

“In less than a year, all trees were uprooted, and the space has become even worse,” the association’s founder added.

In a response to Hespress EN’s question on what actions can be taken to protect this wetland space, Ayoub Krir suggested avoiding harmful behaviors such as throwing garbage and overgrazing, and that the government should prohibit factories from being built and real estate developers from building homes.

The Kenitra-headquartered association’s founder also recommended adopting a green plan in order to save this space’s ecosystem, as well as create a play area for children.

According to him, if this wetland space can be more protected, and improved, it would play a key role in the economic, cultural, and tourism sectors in the country.

February 2022 is the first year that World Wetlands Day is observed as a United Nations international day, following its adoption by the General Assembly on 30 August 2021, in a move to enable countries to take measures to protect their wetlands as well as use them wisely.