By Abbas Nazil
World Wetlands Day 2026 is marked globally under the theme “Wetlands and Traditional Knowledge: Celebrating Cultural Heritage,” drawing attention to the enduring relationship between human cultures and wetland ecosystems.
The 2026 observance underscores how indigenous practices, local wisdom, and long-standing cultural traditions have sustained wetlands for generations while offering solutions to today’s escalating environmental challenges.
Celebrated annually on 2 February, World Wetlands Day commemorates the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands, also known as the Ramsar Convention, signed in 1971 in Ramsar, Iran.
The day serves as a global platform to raise awareness about the critical role wetlands play in supporting biodiversity, water security, climate regulation, and human livelihoods.
Wetlands are among the most productive ecosystems on Earth, providing essential services such as freshwater supply, food resources, flood control, groundwater recharge, and carbon storage.
Despite covering only about six percent of the Earth’s land surface, wetlands support approximately forty percent of all plant and animal species, making them vital to global biodiversity.
The 2026 theme seeks to address the growing disconnect between modern development approaches and traditional environmental stewardship systems that have historically protected wetlands.
Across many cultures, wetlands are not only ecological assets but also sacred landscapes tied to spiritual beliefs, customary laws, and community identity.
The campaign underscores that traditional knowledge systems, when respected and integrated into modern conservation strategies, can significantly strengthen wetland protection and restoration efforts.
Globally, wetlands are facing unprecedented threats from urbanization, pollution, agricultural expansion, infrastructure development, and climate change.
According to international assessments by the Ramsar Convention and the World Heritage Convention, an estimated sixty-four percent of the world’s wetlands have disappeared since the beginning of the twentieth century.
The Global Wetland Outlook further warns that wetlands are being lost three times faster than natural forests, signaling a critical environmental emergency.
This rapid decline compromises food security, increases vulnerability to floods and droughts, accelerates biodiversity loss, and undermines climate change mitigation efforts worldwide.
World Wetlands Day 2026 therefore places urgency on collective action, calling on governments, communities, and institutions to value both science and traditional knowledge equally.
In Africa, wetlands play a central role in supporting rural livelihoods, agriculture, fisheries, and pastoral systems that millions of people depend on daily.
From the Nile Delta and the Inner Niger Delta to the Okavango and Lake Chad Basin, African wetlands are deeply intertwined with cultural practices and indigenous resource management systems.
Traditional fishing methods, seasonal grazing patterns, and customary water-sharing arrangements have historically maintained ecological balance in many African wetland landscapes.
However, African wetlands are increasingly threatened by dam construction, land reclamation, pollution, and climate-induced variability in rainfall and water flows.
The loss and degradation of wetlands across the continent have contributed to declining fish stocks, food insecurity, displacement of communities, and increased conflict over natural resources.
World Wetlands Day 2026 highlights the need to revive and protect indigenous governance systems that promote sustainable wetland use alongside modern policy frameworks.
In Nigeria, wetlands are among the country’s most valuable natural assets, supporting agriculture, fisheries, transportation, and biodiversity across riverine and coastal regions.
Major wetland systems such as the Niger Delta, Hadejia-Nguru wetlands, Cross River floodplains, and freshwater swamps are critical to national food production and ecological stability.
Traditional knowledge in Nigeria has long guided fishing seasons, floodplain farming, mangrove management, and water conservation practices.
Communities have historically relied on local calendars, spiritual taboos, and customary rules to regulate wetland use and prevent over-exploitation.
However, Nigeria’s wetlands face mounting pressures from oil pollution, sand mining, deforestation, invasive species, urban expansion, and poorly planned infrastructure projects.
Climate change has further intensified flooding, droughts, and salinity intrusion, disrupting traditional livelihood systems and threatening wetland-dependent communities.
World Wetlands Day 2026 calls attention to the importance of integrating indigenous knowledge into Nigeria’s environmental policies, climate adaptation strategies, and development planning.
Recognizing traditional custodians of wetlands can enhance conservation outcomes while promoting social inclusion and cultural preservation.
At the global level, the United Nations and the Secretariat of the Convention on Wetlands emphasize that safeguarding wetlands is essential for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
Wetland conservation directly contributes to goals on clean water and sanitation, climate action, life below water, life on land, and poverty reduction.
The 2026 campaign also underscores the role of international cooperation, scientific research, and local participation in reversing the trend of wetland loss.
Geneva, as the host city of the Convention on Wetlands Secretariat, plays a strategic role in coordinating global wetland governance and advocacy.
A series of public events, exhibitions, guided walks, and educational activities have been organized around World Wetlands Day 2026 to engage communities and policymakers.
These activities aim to deepen public understanding of wetland ecosystems while celebrating the cultural knowledge that has sustained them for centuries.
World Wetlands Day 2026 ultimately delivers a clear message that protecting wetlands is not only an environmental imperative but also a cultural and social responsibility.
By valuing traditional knowledge alongside modern science, the global community is better positioned to protect wetlands for present and future generations.
The observance reinforces that sustainable wetland management is achievable when cultural heritage, local voices, and ecological wisdom are placed at the heart of conservation efforts.