On the occasion of Word Wetlands Day on 2 February 2023, the G20 Global Land Initiative Coordination Office in partnership with the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, the UN Decade for Ecosystem Restoration, the UN Environment Programme, the Global Peatlands Initiative, and other partners hosted a webinar on the theme “It’s time for wetlands restoration”.

Featuring guest speakers from across the wetlands ecosystem, it served to highlight the urgent need to prioritize wetland restoration in line with the UN Decade for Ecosystem Restoration. And with participants from 100 different countries, this was a truly global event.

Celebrated annually, World Wetlands Day marks the anniversary of the Convention on Wetlands, adopted on 2 February 1971. Considering that nearly 90% of the world’s wetlands have been degraded since the 1700s, it serves to raise awareness about these critically important ecosystems in order to reverse their rapid loss and encourage conservation and restoration.

A recording of the event can be found here.