The National Environment Management Authority has said that World Wetlands Day will be held at Lake Narasha (Timboroa Dam), Uasin Gishu County on February 2.
This year's theme is "Wetlands and Human Well-being."
Nema said the theme underscores how all aspects of human well-being are tied to the health of the world’s wetlands.
On February 2 each year, Kenya joins the world in celebrating and raising awareness of the importance of wetlands for the ecosystem and biodiversity.
The date marks the anniversary of the Convention on Wetlands, an intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources.
The international agreement was signed in Ramsar, Iran in 1971 and came into force in 1975.
According to NEMA, World Wetlands Day is the ideal time to increase people's understanding of these critically important ecosystems.
Nema says Wetlands are important as they reduce the impact of flooding by absorbing excess water, and are habitats for plant and animal species and sources of water.
Wetlands provide habitat for a myriad of species of aquatic and terrestrial plants and animals, they are valuable for water quality improvement, flood protection, shoreline erosion control and recreation.
According to WWF’s Living Planet report, 64 per cent of wetlands worldwide have been lost since 1900, and 76 per cent of populations of freshwater plants and animals have disappeared in the last 40 years alone, which is worse than any other ecosystem.
This is a case in point of the dire situation our wetlands are in.
The degradation and loss of our inland wetlands and species have been driven by infrastructure development, land conversion, water withdrawals, and pollution amongst many other factors closely contributed by human beings.
The Ramscar Convention on Wetlands report indicates that plastic pollution is severely impacting wetlands and the species that depend on them.
“Ingestion and other dangers posed by plastic pollution are affecting more than 800 marine and coastal species,” the report said.
On January 18, the National Environment Management Authority’senforcement team and the NEMA police unit inspected and took exhibits of companies’ products and packaging materials polluting the Nairobi River and blocking river flow.
Such efforts help avert factors that contribute to the degradation of our wetlands.
