Green Limerick: World Wetlands Day workshop

LIMERICK City and County Council (LCCC) will host an event about the link between wetlands and human well-being to mark World Wetlands Day.

The event will take place at Fitzgerald’s Woodlands House Hotel in Adare on Thursday, February 1, the eve of World Wetlands Day.

The 2024 theme of Wetlands and Human Well-being aims to spotlight how all aspects of human well-being - physical, mental and environmental - are tied to the health of the world’s wetlands.

Wetlands hold and provide most of our freshwater. They naturally filter pollutants, leaving water we can safely drink.

You can discover why we need to preserve and restore these richly biodiverse ecosystems that underpin human well-being with speakers from the Irish Peatland Conservation Council, Limerick Branch of Birdwatch Ireland and the South East Region of the Regional Local Authorities Waters Programme.

“All are invited to join us in this meaningful exploration of wetlands and their impact on human lives,” a spokesperson for LCCC said.

This event will also double up as an annual Tidy Towns seminar giving groups a chance to network with speakers and interested parties.

Places are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

World Wetlands Day is an opportunity for nations and people to come together to spur awareness, appreciation and action for wetlands.

It has been a United Nations International Day since 2022, celebrated every February 2 since 1997 by parties to the Convention on Wetlands of which Ireland is one.

It marks the anniversary of the Convention on Wetlands — adopted in 1971 as an international treaty.

It was the first of the modern global multilateral environmental agreements. Only one is devoted to a specific ecosystem – wetlands. Almost 90% of UN member states, from all the world’s geographic regions, have acceded to become “Contracting Parties.”

“Limerick City and County Council is committed to environmental conservation and community engagement. Through events like these, the council seeks to raise awareness about the crucial role wetlands play in sustaining human well-being,” a spokesperson for LCCC added.