The goal is to develop a national strategy for wetlands protection. Identifying the entire country's wetlands collection is no easy trick. The water can be still or flowing, fresh, brackish, or salty.
Wetlands can be atop mountains or at the edge of the sea.
Countless species of plants and animals depend on wetlands for survival, while people need these rich ecosystems for water, fish, timber, fruits and seeds. Whether they're called marshes, fens, bogs, bayous, or swamps, they all protect dry land from flooding and erosion. Worldwide, wetlands are drained and filled at an alarming rate, mainly for agriculture and other development. Mangrove swamps are destroyed for salt extraction and shrimp farming, while mangrove trees are cut for firewood and to make charcoal. Nearly 900 of the world's most critical wetlands are protected under the Ramsar Convention, an in-ternational treaty adopted in 1971 in Ramsar, Iran.