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Man washing hands from water
that is diverged by wooden troughs made of hollowed
branches from a stream to where people can use it. |
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More than one billion people lack access to freshwater and
more than two billion people lack adequate sanitation services.
Wetlands and rivers are the source of water, a source of life,
and they are running out fast. In some developing countries
¡V worst hit by the water crisis ¡V the loss of wetlands forces
people to walk greater distances to fetch water for cooking
and basic everyday care.
"With already half the world¡¦s wetlands gone, we need
a new mindset that appreciates wetlands as water¡¦s source
and storage instead of land to be drained and developed,¡¨
said Jamie Pittock, Director of WWF¡¦s Freshwater Programme.
It doesn¡¦t matter how many dams you build to provide energy,
food and water ¡V without properly functioning lakes and rivers,
there will be not be enough water.¡¨
About two billion people are already experiencing water
shortages. According to The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
Synthesis Report, wild caught fisheries and freshwater
are exploited well beyond sustainable levels and this does
not factor in future, growing demand. Water removal for human
use means that several major rivers, including the Nile,
Yellow, and Colorado Rivers, do not always flow to the sea.
On this World Wetlands Day, WWF urges governments and communities
engaged in land and water resource management to think twice
before draining wetlands. WWF reminds leaders of the added
impact of climate change which is already intensifying droughts
and floods. For example, a recent WWF report shows that freshwater
fish are under particular threat without enough oxygen to
breathe as waters grow warmer. The link is perhaps nowhere
more evident than in mountains such as the Alps and Himalayas
where glacier meltdown affects the reliability of water flowing
to towns and farms downstream.
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Fish pond near Mai Po |
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In Hong Kong, the Deep Bay wetlands support the livelihood
of a range of people. These include the farmers with oyster
beds along the coast of Outer Deep Bay from Lau Fau Shan
down to Pak Nai, and the fishermen who catch fish in Deep
Bay. Maintaining a good quality of water in Deep Bay and
the water that drains into it, is vital to the livelihood
of these people.
In addition, WWF is also working closely with the pond-fish
farmers along the coast of Deep Bay under the ¡¥Adopt A Green
Fish Farm Project¡¦, to maintain the livelihood of these fishermen
and the future of their ponds which contribute to the ecological
value of the Mai Po Inner Deep Bay Ramsar Site.
¡§Wetlands¡¦ values need also to be seen in economic terms because
once lost, the billions of dollars in material and services
provided by these freshwater systems are almost never recoverable,¡¨
said Jamie Pittock.
¡V End ¡V
For further information:
Brian Thomson, tel: +41 22 364 9562; bthomson@wwfint.org
Lisa Hadeed, tel: +41 22 364 9030; lhadeed@wwfint.org
Dr Lew Young, WWF Hong Kong Mai Po Reserve Manager, tel +852
2471 6306; lyoung@wwf.org.hk
NOTES FOR EDITORS
- The Convention on Wetlands, signed in Ramsar, Iran,
in 1971, is an intergovernmental treaty which provides
the framework for national action and international cooperation
for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their
resources. There are presently 150 Contracting Parties
to the Convention, with 1,556 wetland sites, totalling
129.6 million hectares, designated for inclusion in the
Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance. For
more information go to www.ramsar.org.
- WWF works to protect and manage 250 million hectares
of representative wetlands by 2010; to date, WWF has been
the catalyst for reservation of 4.75 per cent (49 M ha)
freshwater habitat from 1999-2005.
- For more information on the The Economic Values
of the World's Wetlands go to: http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/what_we_do/freshwater/publications/economic_values_of_wetlands/index.cfm
- WWF "Adopt A Green Fish Farm": http://www.wwf.org.hk/eng/maipo/greenfishfarm/
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