The President of the Republic of Liberia, H. E. Mrs. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has issued a proclamation declaring Tuesday, February 2, 2016 as the World Wetlands Day to be celebrated throughout the Republic as a Working Holiday.   

A Foreign Ministry release says Liberia will celebrate the World Wetland Day 2016 in Montserrado County, under the theme “Wetlands for our future”.  

The proclamation further calls on all persons residing within the territorial confines of Liberia to join the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in executing appropriate programs to reflect Liberia’s full commitment to securing wetlands for the livelihood of its people.  

The celebration of the event is to raise awareness on how wetlands should be conserved for our future generations.

Moreover, the proclamation discloses that Liberia is a contracting party of the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance.

The purpose for observing the World Wetlands Day is to focus world attention on the importance of wetlands for livelihood from fishing, rice farming, travel, tourism and water provision as wetlands are vital in many other ways, and are hosts of huge varieties of life, protect our coastlines, provide natural sponges against flooding and store carbon dioxide to regulate climate change.

The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, known as the Ramsar Convention, was adopted by the United Nations in the Iranian city of Ramsar to be observed as World Wetlands Day of each year since 1997.