Wetlands Week 2023 will be held in Valdivia

On Monday, January 30 at 10 in the morning at the Anwandter Pier, on the Valdivia waterfront, the launch and presentation of the activities program will take place.

Wetlands Week has been held since 2017 as a meeting point for different organizations, institutions, groups and people who work for wetlands.

It is done within the framework of the global commemoration of Wetlands Day, on February 2.

Along with the activities that are carried out, the Dr. Roberto Schlater wetland management and conservation award is also presented, in memory of the prominent professor and academic who promoted the first Ramsar site in the country in the Cruces River wetland.

The motto of this year 2023: It’s time to restore wetlands.

Wetlands are disappearing at a rate three times faster than forests and are recognized as the most threatened ecosystem. The most recent estimates show that, since the 1970s, 35% of the world’s wetlands have been lost, mainly due to human activities, such as draining and filling for agriculture, excessive water extraction, urban development and pollution. (ramsar.org).

Thanks to citizen action and the work of social leaders, the contribution of professionals, scientists and educators, and the commitment of authorities and parliamentarians, we have made progress in the protection of urban wetlands and in rural areas of the Los Ríos Region.

We need to move faster in restoring wetlands to recover the benefits they have for biodiversity, livelihoods and food, social well-being and economic development, and to mitigate the effects of climate change.