The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), through its Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB), leads the national celebration of the World Wetlands Day (WWD) 2025 in the province of Zamboanga Sibugay on February 2, 2025. This extends the formal announcement of two additional sites in the Ramsar List during the 10th Asian Wetland Symposium (AWS10) in November 2024.

The Sibugay Wetland Nature Reserve (SWNR) was declared as the Philippines’ 9th Wetland of International Importance with Ramsar Site No. 2552, while the Del Carmen Mangrove Reserve (DCMR) in Siargao Island Protected Landscape and Seascape (SIPLAS) is the Philippines’ 10th Wetland of International Importance with Ramsar Site No. 2553.

As a global observance every February 2, WWD honors the anniversary of the treaty signing of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands in 1971 and the Philippines’ declaration of the National Wetlands Day in 1999 by virtue of Presidential Proclamation No. 74.

This year’s theme, “Protecting Wetlands for Our Common Future,” focuses on foresight, collaboration and the call for urgency of bold actions for the conservation of wetlands. The same theme is also being adopted for the 15th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Convention on Wetlands (COP15) to be held in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe on July 23-31, 2025.

The global celebration aims for the protection, conservation, and sustainable management of wetlands around the world as well as direction of urgent and pivotal actions of all stakeholders with the future generations taken into account.

The DENR-BMB, in collaboration with the DENR Zamboanga Peninsula Region, its field offices and the Provincial Government of Zamboanga Sibugay, will conduct the two-day celebration at the Zamboanga Provincial Capitol and at the Sibugay Wetland Nature Reserve (SWNR).

Among the celebration highlights are the ceremonial awarding of the Certificate as a Wetland of International Importance (or the Ramsar Site Certificate) to the Provincial Government of Zamboanga Sibugay and concerned municipalities and barangays of the SWNR, unveiling of the SWNR photo, wetland products exhibit, which are potential Biodiversity-Friendly Enterprises (BDFEs), dalaw-turo (teaching visit), and an exposure trip to the SWNR.

Significant to migratory waterbirds, this Ramsar Site is also under the Philippine Flyway (PhilFlyway) project supported by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) as Zamboanga Sibugay Wetlands is also selected for the grant. The project is a close partnership among the Asian Development Bank’s Regional Flyway Initiative (RFI), the East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership (EAAFP), and BirdLife International. Nature-based solutions are the focus of this project, protecting bird habitats while also improving the livelihood of communities surrounding the SWNR, as well as other benefits.

The WWD 2025 national celebration specifically aims to raise awareness of the fundamental role and importance of local wetlands, such as the Sibugay Wetland Nature Reserve, and to incite actions toward environmental sustainability and human survival. Among its objectives is to also record and highlight the success stories of wetland management through best practices, innovative approaches, and conservation and restoration projects.

Expected attendees and participants include officials of the Provincial Government of Zamboanga Sibugay, concerned Municipal and Barangay Local Government Units, the Department of Education (DepEd), Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), People’s Organizations (POs), religious, private sector, academe, local media, and representatives of Eco Warriors, and Youth for Environment in Schools-Organization (YES-O).

Their local efforts to conserve their wetlands and commit to biodiversity conservation have just marked its first fruits. The SWNR being part of the “Ramsar List” carries both  national and international status as it becomes significant not only to biodiversity conservation nationally, but globally as well. With Zamboanga Sibugay among the lead for wetland conservation, it keeps its doors open to safeguard the common future. In promoting strategies for wetland protection, conservation, and sustainable management, the World Wetlands Day campaign is far from ending and it continues to grow its platforms among the Convention’s Contracting Parties worldwide.

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