Special day explores link between wetlands and forests

Abstract

World Wetlands Day is cele­ brated on 2 February every year. This year, the theme for international celebrations is ‘Forests for Water and Wetlands’ . This theme is particularly appropri­ ate since the United Nations has declared 2011 the International Year of Forests. For the wetland community it offers an ideal opportunity to focus on a very particular type of forest – those that are often or always wet. These wetland forests include mangroves, flooded forests, and peat­ swamp forests, to name a few. According to the Ramsar Convention (an international body of member coun­ tries focused on protecting wetlands of international importance), a wetland forest or swamp forest can be defined as any wet­ land with woody vegetation. A total of 825 out of 1 891 Ramsar sites have at least some forested wetlands within their boundaries. Swamp forests can range in size from one to two metres to as much as 50 m tall. Inland swamp forests protect catch­ ments while coastal swamp forests protect coasts against storms and rising sea levels in some cases.

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