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FACTS ABOUT WETLANDS Wetlands are ‘areas of marsh, fen, peat land or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six metres’. (Article 1.1, Ramsar Convention, 1971). Wetlands capture and retain rainfall, and prevent valuable sediments from being washed into lakes and rivers. They add moisture to the atmosphere, which falls as rain and cools the environment. A global review of wetland resources submitted to the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Wetlands in 1999, while affirming that 'it is not possible to provide an acceptable figure of the areal extent of wetlands at a global scale', indicated a 'best' minimum global estimate at between 748 and 778 million hectares (Ramsar, 2004). 50% of the world's wetlands have been lost in the past century alone(IUCN, 2002). Some recent economic studies have indicated that ecosystems provide at least US$ 33 trillion worth of services annually, of which US$ 4.9 trillion are attributed to wetlands (Ramsar, 2002). Wetlands are among the world's most productive environments. They are cradles of biological diversity, providing the water and primary productivity upon which countless species of plants and animals depend for survival. Wetlands support high concentrations of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish and invertebrate species. (UICN, 2003). More than 80% of the wetlands along the Danube River have been destroyed since the start of the 20th century. The Mesopotamian Marshlands in the Tigris and Euphrates River Basins were devastated mainly by massive drainage during the late 1980s. Source: UNESCO Water Portal, February 2005
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