Celebrating World Wetlands Day 2024

On Sunday, 4th February, Urdaibai Bird Center will celebrate World Wetlands Day.in collaboration with the Provincial Council of Bizkaia and the BBK. We are holding a scientific bird ringing session and a guided walk for all those who wish to take part in the celebration. There are limited places so it will be necessary to sign up.

World Wetlands Day is celebrated in nature centres along the entire bird migration route. Entities and organisations dedicate this day to promoting knowledge and conservation of wetlands from the most local to the most global level. This year's World Wetland's Day celebrates the relationship that people have had with wetlands throughout time. Our interdependence is both beautiful and fragile.

Throughout history and also in many present day cultures, wetlands have been venerated as givers of life. Imagine how ancient people would have felt thousands of years ago seeing wetlands which were teeming with flora and fauna.

The Urdaibai wetlands offer us a paradise to enjoy in all the seasons. Spring is just around the corner and the green shoots of the reeds are pushing their way out of the earth. The air is full of energy, the wildlife is blooming and the birds are vying for territory and putting on the best displays of song and colour.

Wetlands provide us with a connection to nature and this benefits our well being and mental health. Being in a wetland area is a delight to the senses. We hear the calls of the birds and the calming sound of the wind in the reeds. The cooling breeze which blows off the wáter is light and refreshing on our skin. Our eyes are delighted by the colours of the everchanging landscape and the wonderful sight of the birds.

Wetlands are not only vital to humans for well being and mental health. They hold and provide a great deal of our fresh wáter and act as filters of pollutants. Wetlands also provide us with many kinds of food. From fish to rice humans depend upon these natural areas for sustenance. Many agricultural practices, however, are damaging for wetlands and as our demand for water grows, they are under constant pressure. We must do out utmost to protect wetland habitats..

Finally it is vital to mention the role wetlands play in mitigating climate change They capture CO2 from the atmosphere and store more carbon than any other ecosystem on Earth. Peatlands store about 30% of land-based carbon — twice the amount of all the world's forests. Coastal blue carbon ecosystems (mangroves, seagrass beds, salt marshes) capture and store carbon in their sediment up to 55 times faster than tropical rainforests. An acre of wetland can store millions of litres of floodwater, so these habitats protect humans who live along coastlines against storm surges, hurricanes and tsunamis.

Wetlands are essential to us in so many ways. By celebrating World Wetlands Day 2024, Urdaibai Bird Center aims to spotlights the urgency with which we need to act to preserve and restore these richly biodiverse ecosystems that underpin human wellbeing.

We invite you to be part of this Global Awareness day. We invite you to enjoy the Urdaibai wetland and the birds and to help protect them

Phone to reserve your place in one of the Ringing Sessions or on the Guided Walk