Human well-being is irrevocably linked to the state of the world's wetlands, said the Ministry of Tourism, Ecology, Sustainable Development and Development of the North (MERT).
They said this on the occasion of World Wetlands Day, February 2.
The Secretariat of the Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar Convention) has announced this year's theme: "Wetlands and human well-being".
"The campaign emphasizes how interconnected wetlands and human life are with people drawing food, inspiration and resilience from these productive ecosystems," MERT said.
According to them, this year's theme underscores how all aspects of human well-being are linked to the health of the world's wetlands, "and calls on each of us to value and manage our wetlands."
The Ministry of Tourism, Ecology, Sustainable Development and Development of the North published an educational video from Ramsar protected areas on the occasion of February 2, World Wetland Day, with the aim, as they stated, of raising awareness of the importance of wetlands for people and the Earth.
Every wetland is important. Every effort counts.
MERT said that these ecosystems sustain life.
"We depend on these ecosystems to sustain life, but they must be healthy if they are to continue to provide us with water and food, support biodiversity, provide livelihoods, protect against extreme weather events and mitigate climate change," they said.
They emphasized that the campaign emphasizes three main principles, on which their celebration will be based: Investing in the sustainable use of wetlands means investing in the future of humanity, Wetlands can provide cities and their residents with multiple economic, social and cultural benefits that support human well-being, Renewal of wetlands is key to overcoming the climate and biodiversity crisis and to achieving sustainable development goals for the benefit of all people
"To date, more than 170 countries have been involved in international cooperation on the preservation of these areas, with over 2.500 locations, including Montenegro. There are currently three Ramsar areas in Montenegro: Skadar Lake National Park, which was entered on the Ramsar list in 1995, The Tivat Saltworks was registered in 2013, and the Ulcinj Saltworks was registered in 2019," they said.
MERT clarified that in the past it was considered that these are useless and even harmful water bodies (sources of disease and infection), that they should be cultivated or even dried.
"That's why many of them have been irreversibly destroyed. Today we know that wetlands are very important water bodies because rare plants and animals live in them, if they were not there, the natural balance on Earth would be significantly disturbed," they added.
They pointed out that although Montenegro is rich in significant water habitats, one should always know that, as they said, natural resources are not unlimited. "On the contrary, they are very limited and must be handled carefully".
Wetlands are among the most productive ecosystems on earth, they said.
"They support a very high level of biodiversity, provide refuge for many rare species, are the habitat of millions of migratory and non-migratory waterfowl species, represent an integral part of the hydrological cycle and play a key role in maintaining water quality and quantity. They are often interconnected, and usually represent transition zones between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, such as forests and meadows. As such, wetlands have enormous direct and indirect importance for humans, both economically and culturally," they added.
MERT emphasized that wetlands are of inestimable value for the life and economic development of the Earth as a whole.
"Because they are extremely important for the purification of aquatic ecosystems, they represent significant food chains, a link between migratory species, an effective flood protection system, etc. Any loss of these areas simultaneously means the impoverishment of natural resources important for the survival of rare representatives of biodiversity and specific ecosystems," they said. are.
They recalled that the general conclusion at the big international conference held on February 02, 1971 in Ramsar, an Iranian city on the coast of the Caspian Lake, was that "Natural water resources are not unlimited and must be handled carefully".
The Ramsar message adopted in 1971 was and remains the basis for, as they say, the protection, preservation and wise use of wetlands across the planet.
Bonus video:
