World Wetlands Day Celebration in Watsonville

By Kathy Fieberling, Watsonville Wetlands Watch

World Wetlands Day was celebrated by the Watsonville Wetlands Watch and the City of Watsonville at a special event on Saturday, Feb. 4. Community volunteers were invited to work with us on a critical restoration project on Upper Struve Slough along the City of Watsonville’s Trail System.

In addition to the restoration project, there was music, fun kids’ activities and a bird walk. Volunteers met at 10 am on the Upper Struve Slough trail at the lower parking area at the southern end of the Nob Hill Shopping Center in Watsonville, and work until noon. Gloves, tools, and snacks will be provided.

Natural disasters have more than doubled in the past 35 years and most of the increase comes from weather and climate-related events. For these reasons, this year’s World Wetlands Day is dedicated to “Wetlands for Disaster Risk Reduction.”

Along the coastline, wetlands act as a natural protective buffer. For example, they helped avoid more than $625 million in damages from Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Inland, wetlands act as a natural sponge, absorbing and storing excess rainfall and reducing flooding. During the dry season, they release the stored water, delaying the onset of droughts and reducing water shortages. When well managed, wetlands can make communities resilient enough to prepare for, cope with and bounce back from disasters even stronger than before.

Unfortunately, 64% of the world’s wetlands have disappeared since 1900 making our remaining wetlands all the more critical to protect and restore. So join the community on February 4th and help restore our own precious wetland habitat.

The Watsonville sloughs, an 800 acre, mostly freshwater slough system, provide a refuge for wildlife, are a nursery for fish, and support over 260 migratory and resident birds. Like wetlands throughout the world, the sloughs are biodiversity hotspots and protect against flooding. Wetlands are also a “carbon sink,” which means they remove carbon dioxide from the air.

World Wetlands Day has been celebrated since 1997 in recognition of the day in 1971 that the Convention on Wetlands was signed in the Iranian City of Ramsar. The treaty is an intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources.

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For more information, visit www.ramsar.org/activity/world-wetlands-day.