37 years ago today in the town of Ramsar , Iran an International Convention was signed to better manage welands.

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 158 Contracting Parties to the Convention, with 1717 wetland sites, totaling 159 million hectares, designated for inclusion in the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance.

from the RAMSAR website

Wetlands take up approximately 6% of the earth’s surface and provide very important services to the environment. They provide a filtering service often compared with kidneys taking nutrients out of overland water-flows before reaching major watercourses. These nutrients then contribute to support the vital suite of biodiversity that depends on the wetland their survival.

There are a stack of events I suggest getting down to a wetland near you and contemplating all that is wet land.