World wetlands day 2026 – traditional knowledge and cultural heritage

Wetlands are a treasure trove of biodiversity, a natural carbon store, and a key element of the Earth’s hydrological cycle, protecting us from floods and droughts. Their ecological role is impossible to overestimate. World Wetlands Day 2026 has a special mission – to remind us of the people who have safeguarded these unique ecosystems for centuries.

Swamp or source of clean water?

For most people, wetlands are still associated with mosquitoes and ankle-deep mud. Meanwhile, as Prof. Mariusz Lamentowicz explained to Wodne Sprawy a year ago, this seemingly enigmatic term encompasses not only swamps and floodplains, but also wet meadows, lakes, and rivers – in short, all the key water bodies on land.

Wetlands not only retain and store water, but also purify it. The rich vegetation covering peatlands, lake shores, and meadows acts as an extremely effective filter, trapping pollutants of both natural and anthropogenic origin. In many cities around the world, previously drained wetlands are now being actively restored and new artificial ones developed to provide residents with higher-quality drinking water, while at the same time supporting biodiversity and climate change adaptation.

World Wetlands Day 2026 with tradition in the background

Research published in 2023 in the journal Nature shows that between 1700 and 2020 the world lost approximately 3.4 million km2 of wetlands, most of which were drained and converted into agricultural land. This represents not only a huge environmental, hydrological, and climatic loss, but also a severe blow to economies and communities whose well-being depends on the health of wetland ecosystems.

World Wetlands Day, observed on 2 February, is marked this year under the theme Wetlands and traditional knowledge: celebrating cultural heritage. It refers to the fact that for hundreds of years wetland areas have been protected by local communities, drawing on knowledge based on observation and respect for nature. This is an extraordinary potential worth embracing.

Prof. Celeste Saulo, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization, emphasizes that the experience and expertise of local communities strengthen hydrological monitoring, improve early warning systems, and deepen our understanding of the impacts of climate change. This is particularly important in regions where access to formalized data is limited.

Local communities guarding wetlands

The Ramsar Convention defines traditional knowledge as a body of experience accumulated over centuries, closely linked to the observation of nature and the sustainable use of its resources, passed down from generation to generation, usually in oral form.

Scientific studies conducted in Africa, Asia, and South America show that Indigenous tribes have, over millennia, gained an in-depth understanding of the relationships governing biological balance in wetlands and often know more about the properties of individual species than modern textbooks. Their practices related to rainwater harvesting, fishing, or the collection of medicinal plants are based on deep respect for nature and rational restraint, expressed for example through the designation of sacred sites excluded from use or through the rotation of harvesting areas.

Speaking on the occasion of World Wetlands Day 2026, Dr. Musonda Mumba, Secretary-General of the Ramsar Convention, stressed that by respecting and drawing on traditional knowledge, we not only protect wetlands but also strengthen the cultural foundations that sustain them. It is precisely integrated initiatives that combine the heritage of local communities with science and technology that offer the greatest chance of preserving the still underestimated potential of wetlands for the benefit of future generations.

---

Sources:

https://www.worldwetlandsday.org

https://smartwatermagazine.com/news/smart-water-magazine/world-wetlands-day-2026-traditional-knowledge-and-its-role-water

Fluet-Chouinard, E., Stocker, B.D., Zhang, Z. et al. Extensive global wetland loss over the past three centuries. Nature 614, 281–286 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05572-6