It’s time to restore degraded wetlands!
As we join the rest of the world to commemorate World Wetlands Day on February 2nd we are reminded that it is time to restore our degraded wetlands. But why should we? According to the Global Wetland Outlook, 2021, wetlands have always provided services to humanity, yet recognition of the scale of these benefits and the consequences of their loss is quite recent. Critical wetland ecosystem services include: carbon sequestration and storage, particularly in peatlands and marine ecosystems; ensuring safe and reliable supplies of drinking and irrigation water; the provision of goods and services connected with food security; and management against water-related disasters such...
World Wetlands Day 2022 – Tree Planting Ceremony
In the context of World Wetlands Day, celebrated annually on 2nd February, the Institute of Marine Affairs (IMA), organized a tree planting ceremony on the compound of the IMA. The tree species that were planted were not wetland type species like mangroves but species such as Pommerac, Soursop, Chatagne, Sour Cherry and Lime to name but a few....
Wetland and Water
In Commemoration of World Wetland Day 2021 Prepared by Rahanna JumanInstitute of Marine Affairs We are in a growing water crisis that threatens people and our planet. Water use has increased six fold over the past century and is rising by about 1% a year. We use more water than nature can replenish, and are destroying the ecosystems that water and all our life depend on most- wetlands. Rincon Lagoon Water covers about 70% of our planet, so we think that it is plentiful. However, freshwater—the stuff we drink and irrigate our farms with—is incredibly rare. Only 3% of the world’s water is freshwater, and two-thirds of that...
Wetland Biodiversity: Why It matters?
Prepared by Dr. Rahanna Juman, Director (Ag.) Institute of Marine Affairs As the world commemorates World Wetlands Day on February 2nd with the theme ‘Wetland Biodiversity: Why its Matters’, a December 2019 publication by Diaz et al in Science revealed that most indicators of the state of nature, whether monitored by natural and social scientists or by indigenous peoples and local communities, are declining. Consequently, nature’s capacity to provide crucial benefits has also declined, including environmental processes underpinning human health and non-material contributions to the quality of human life. These trends in nature and its contributions to people are projected to worsen in the coming decades, unless rapid and integrated action is taken to...