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"It is necessary that we take a serious attitude to environmental
protection, flora and fauna, the environmental situation, and to this
end we have achieved a revision of the approach to improving
legislation in this area."
Emomali Rahmon
WORLD WETLANDS DAY
News

WORLD WETLANDS DAY     

                                                                

The theme for February 2, 2023 is "Wetland Restoration". This slogan is dedicated to the United Nations Decade for Ecosystem Restoration.

Wetlands Day is an annual celebration of the signing of the Ramsar Convention. 170 countries of the world are parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. More than 2,300 wetlands around the world have received international Ramsar status. These areas cover 250 million hectares, which is about 15 percent of all land in the world.

Wetlands is the literal translation of the English word "botlands". Such lands are natural or artificial areas that are constantly or periodically flooded. It can be swamps, river and lake banks, coastal hills, beaches and shallow waters, dams and much more. The Convention identifies 42 types of wetlands, but they are all divided into three types: coastal, inland and artificial.

Wetlands are the richest reservoirs of biological diversity, and their destruction and degradation endangers all life that lives in them. Of the 19,500 species that depend on water for life, a quarter is endangered. Drainage of swamps, uncontrolled fishing, construction of dams, pollution of water in lakes can lead to the extinction of entire species. For waterfowl, whose population has been steadily declining since the 1980s, swamps and lakes are very important for nesting and nesting.

Wetlands are also important for maintaining carbon dioxide balance and combating the effects of climate change. Bottom sediments of rivers and lakes reliably store organic matter for centuries and millennia, but peat bogs are the absolute champions in carbon deposition. 30% of all carbon in soil and land plants is stored in wetlands. Peat is twice as effective as forest.

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the world forever. More importantly, it has changed the way we think about health and the environment. Ecosystem degradation and the uncontrolled wildlife trade are no longer distant threats, they now pose a direct threat to the health and well-being of all of us.

Three quarters of new diseases in the world are zoonotic. The rude attitude of people towards wildlife and the lives of its inhabitants is a constant threat of a new pandemic. In addition, diseases associated with lack of clean water claim millions of lives every year around the world. The key to solving this problem is the protection and restoration of ecosystems, especially water and wetlands.

It is difficult to overestimate their importance. Wetlands are important for protecting biodiversity, combating climate change, preventing natural disasters and, of course, for global health and well-being. Without their restoration it is impossible to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

Rivers and lakes, wetlands and swamps, coastal ecosystems - most of these ecosystems need to be restored.

Global food security also depends on the sustainable management of wetlands. Maintaining soil fertility, preventing droughts and floods - all these functions of swamps are vital for agriculture. However, agriculture itself threatens the preservation of the swamps by polluting them with chemicals and mineral fertilizers.

All of the ecosystem services provided by wetlands are difficult and impossible to quantify. However, the damage from damaged ecosystems is obvious. Global climate change, the risk of spreading diseases, poverty, the destruction of biological diversity - all this threatens the existence of life on Earth. For the common future of the entire planet, it is necessary not only to preserve what is, but also to restore it. In particular, the restoration of water and wetlands.

Wetlands of Tajikistan are also a constant object of attention of scientists. In the Republic of Tajikistan, 15 wetlands have been identified, 5 of them, the Karakul, Shorkul, Rangul, Zorkul lakes, the water area of the Tigrovaya Balka reserve and the Kairakkum reservoir are included in the list of Ramsar sites of global importance. Rivers, lakes and swamps of the country are under constant control of the Committee for Environmental Protection under the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan. Every year, dedicated to the Day of Wetlands, the Committee for Environmental Protection organizes seminars, conferences and environmental events on the protection and restoration of wetlands in Dushanbe and other regions of the country.

Issues of water quality, status of rare flora and fauna, strategies for sustainable management of water resources, protection and restoration of disturbed ecosystems are discussed at national and international scientific conferences. Instructions and articles on all issues of protection, restoration and rational use of wetlands are regularly published in special publications of the Committee.

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