KUALA LUMPUR: The Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Ministry has called on state governments to nominate wetland regions that have potential to be new Ramsar sites.
Its minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad said that the cooperation of all parties would ensure the wetlands ecosystem remained conducive and healthy.
"This is the time to strengthen efforts, promote local community involvement and mobilise solutions towards protecting and maintaining soil ecosystems," said Nik Nazmi in a statement released in conjunction with the World Wetlands Day 2023 today.
A Ramsar site is a wetland designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention, also known as the Convention on Wetlands, an inter-governmental environmental treaty established by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971.
Malaysia has ratified the Ramsar Convention since 1994 and, therefore, is legally obliged to conserve and use its wetlands wisely.
Feb 2 is the date that has been announced as the World Wetlands Day in commemoration of the date of the Ramsar Convention.
Nik Nazmi said that the purpose of the World Wetlands Day celebration was to increase public awareness about the importance of wetlands which need to be maintained and restored.
"With the theme 'It's time for wetland restoration', I want to stress on how important it is on the preservation and usage measures of wetlands steadily for the welfare of life.
"The preservation is important to ensure food security, mitigation and climate stability as well as functioning as a breakwater by reducing flood impacts, trapped garbage and a habitat for flora and fauna including endangered species."
"I urge all Ramsar site managements in this country to reinforce the Ramsar management footprint each day with the objectives of the Ramsar Convention."
In conjunction with the celebration, a variety of activities have been designed to improve local community awareness which include the Public Awareness Programme of Tasek Bera, Tanjung Piai Mangrove Run and Tree Planting Programme in Kuching Wetlands National Park.
The seven areas of wetlands in Malaysia that have been signed as Ramsar Site are Tasek Bera, Pahang; Tanjung Piai, Kukup Island and Sungai Pulai, Johor; Kuching Wetlands National Park, Sarawak; and Lower Kinabatangan – Segama Wetlands and Kota Kinabalu Wetlands, Sabah.