World Wetlands Day

World Wetlands Day is celebrated internationally each year on 2 February. It marks the anniversary of the signing of the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Convention) in Ramsar, Iran, on 2 February 1971.

World Wetlands Day was first celebrated in 1997. Since then government agencies, non-government organisations and community groups have celebrated World Wetlands Day by undertaking actions to raise public awareness of wetland values and benefits and promote the conservation and wise use of wetlands. These activities include seminars, nature walks, festivals, launches of new policies, announcement of new Ramsar sites, newspaper articles, radio interviews and wetland rehabilitation.

World Wetlands Day 2009

The international theme for World Wetlands Day 2009 was "Upstream-Downstream: Wetlands connect us all". This was in recognition of how interconnected we all are within river basins and the impact that activities upstream have on the lower parts of a river catchment.

Sustainable river basin management is extremely important to maintain the functions and ecosystems services of a wetland. World Wetlands Day 2009 aimed to raise awareness on how we can all support healthy rivers and assess how our actions affect those downstream.

The theme for World Wetlands Day 2010 will be "Wetlands, Biodiversity, and Climate Change."

Calendar of Events

The Australian Government produces a web-based Calendar of Events for World Wetlands Day each year. If you have a World Wetlands Day activity that you would like advertised before 2 February, please contact wetlandsmail@environment.gov.au.