Every year on February 2, World Wetlands Day is celebrated.
This year marks the 51st anniversary of the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, signed in the Iranian city of Ramsar. The task of the convention is to draw attention to the problems of wetlands and resource management.
In 1971 it was signed by 18 states, in 2000 there were 119 countries, today there are 160. The official date of Ukraine's accession to the Ramsar Convention is December 1, 1991. Back in 1975, the status of wetlands of international importance was granted to four wetlands of Ukraine (Yagorlytska Bay, Tendriv Bay, Karkinitska Bay and Danube Floodplains) with a total area of 211 thousand hectares. For us, Mykolaiv citizens, the fact of presence in the world list of the Yagorlytska Bay, washing coasts of our region, is important.
On October 29, 1996, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine decided to recognize Ukraine as the successor to the USSR in participating in the Ramsar Convention. In 1998, the Bureau of the Ramsar Convention included the Ukrainian territories in the official List of Ramsar sites. Thus began the formation of a network of wetlands of international importance in Ukraine. Currently, the network of wetlands of international importance in Mykolaiv region includes Tyligul estuary (Mykolaiv and Odesa regions), Yagorlytska Bay (Mykolaiv and Kherson regions), which are of great value as a habitat for birds during nesting, wintering, stopping during seasonal migrations.
According to the list of wetlands of international importance, published on February 2, 2020 on the official website of the Ramsar Convention, in Ukraine there are 50 wetlands of international importance with a total area of 802,604 hectares. According to the number of complexes included in this list, Ukraine, together with France, ranks 5th in Europe and 8th in the world.
Today, the theme of World Wetlands Day emphasizes the importance of these habitats to ensure the sustainable development of mankind and the preservation of the biosphere as a whole.
The implementation of priorities in the direction of wetland conservation is possible only if the efforts of all governmental and non-governmental institutions and organizations, the entire population of the country are united. By joining this work, you will contribute to the preservation and reproduction of extremely valuable wetlands for our future!
