Restoration is the theme of a Coastwatch event to mark UN World Wetlands Day today in Co Wexford.
The one-day event will include a keynote address by Tobias Salathe of the Ramsar Convention European office in Geneva, Switzerland.
Ireland currently has 45 areas designated as Ramsar sites or wetlands of international importance, covering a surface of 66,994 hectares.
They are protected by the Convention on Wetlands, which came into force here in March,1985.
The convention 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.
Ireland is one of 172 contracting parties to the convention protecting 2,400 wetlands of international importance.
The total surface of designated sites extends across a global area of 256,192,356 hectares.
Austrian ambassador to Ireland HE Thomas Nader will open a Coastwatch exhibition this morning in Wexford County Hall at 11am, followed by Mr Salathe’s address.
A workshop on addressing climate change, biodiversity and water quality issues and the role of wetlands will be facilitated by journalist Brian Trench.
Field trips are planned to wetlands both threatened by climate change, including farmland which was claimed from the sea years ago and is now in the front line of sea level rise and storm surges, according to Coastwatch co-ordinator Karin Dubsky.
The event will conclude with a celebration in “song, music and word” from 5pm to 7pm. More here
