INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
TEHRAN - February 2nd marks World Wetlands Day
play an important role in coastal environments and economies, health, food supply, tourism, and jobs.Wetlands are providing essential
ecosystem services such as water regulation, including flood control and water purification.More than a billion people across the world
Convention presently counts 172 countries as Contracting Parties, which recognizes the value of having one international treaty dedicated to
a single ecosystem.The Ramsar Convention uses a broad definition of wetlands
This includes all lakes and rivers, underground aquifers, swamps and marshes, wet grasslands, peatlands, oases, estuaries, deltas, tidal
flats, mangroves, and other coastal areas, coral reefs, and all human-made sites such as fish ponds, rice paddies, reservoirs, and salt
pans.The Convention on Wetlands is an intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and
their resources.It was adopted in the Iranian city of Ramsar in 1971 and came into force in 1975
141 wetlands with ecological value with an area of over 3 million hectares have been identified, of which 25 wetlands are designated as
wetlands of international importance (registered in the Ramsar Convention) covering more than 1.4 million hectares and four sites are
biosphere reserves.Blight of illegal wellsHowever, wetlands are among the ecosystems with the highest rates of decline, loss, and
the life of wetlands.Statistics show that the number of unauthorized wells has increased from 15,000 to 400,000 in the last five decades,
which has caused many of the country's plains and wetlands to dry up, IRNA reported.Over the past few years, we have been continuously
hearing unpleasant news about the country's water situation
Drought and low rainfall have caused many problems and exacerbated the situation.All of them indicate that the condition of reservoirs and
underground water resources is not favorable.Of course, in the past few weeks, there has been good rainfall throughout the country
According to the Ministry of Energy, about 40 percent of the country's dam reserves have been filled.But experts believe that the drought
and a lack of water in the past few years were so great and destroyed the water resources that these rains do not compensate for all the
lag.Official data show that about 90 percent of the country's area is affected by drought with different severity and weaknesses
Also, about 270 cities in the country are suffering from water stress.On the other hand, wear and tear of water transmission pipelines cause
25 percent of water to be wasted in the supply network, which causes 650 trillion rials (about $1.6 billion) in the form of accumulated
losses.When this situation occurs, various measures are taken to compensate for it, such as the construction of deep wells in places where
the plains are located.The high number of these wells means that there is no more capacity for underground water sources.In this situation,
many problems occur in different sectors, including the environment
Wetlands are one of the areas where wells endanger their life.If we take a look at the process of drilling wells in the country, both
authorized and unauthorized, we can see that the exploitation of underground water in the plains has intensified in the last four
decades.Statistics show that in the 1970s, there were about 15,000 unauthorized wells in the country, but now it has increased to more than
400,000.The effect of this process is very dangerous for the life of wetlands and their watershed basins.The drilling of deep wells in the
plains and agricultural fields causes irreparable damage to the country's wetlands.The impact of this process on wetlands, especially
wetlands whose catchment area is closed, is much greater so it can have a greater effect on the drying of that wetland than other wetlands.A
closed basin means that water does not enter the wetland from outside the basin.For example, Lake Urmia, Parishan, Agh Gol, and Zaribar
wetlands have closed watershed basins.This problem may have originated from our policies in line with agricultural development and
self-sufficiency in products, but we were unaware that it was not in accordance with the capacity of the lands.In some cases, it cannot be
