WHEREAS, The United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 75/317 in August 2021, proclaiming February 2 as World Wetlands Day; and

WHEREAS, Wetlands are essential to achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, which are related to poverty eradication, food and nutrition, healthy living, gender equality, water quality and availability, energy supply, the reduction of natural disasters, innovation and the development of appropriate infrastructure, sustainable and resilient human settlements, the mitigation of and adaptation to climate change, ocean, sea, and marine resources, biodiversity, and the sustainable use of ecosystems; and

WHEREAS, Wetlands are critical to people and nature, given the intrinsic value of these ecosystems and their benefits and services, including their environmental, climate, ecological, social, economic, scientific, educational, cultural, recreational, and aesthetic contributions to sustainable development and human wellbeing; and

WHEREAS, Wetlands comprise 3 percent of the earth’s surface yet store 30 percent of all land based carbon; and

WHEREAS, To meet the climate goals of the Paris Agreement, from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, of preventing average global temperatures from rising more than 2°C (3.6°F) above preindustrial levels and pursuing efforts to keep warming below 1.5°C (2.7°F), we must prevent further conversion and drainage of intact wetlands, and restore 50 percent of all lost wetlands before 2030; and

WHEREAS, As of July 2021, 171 states became contracting parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat, an international treaty; and

WHEREAS, The Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands provides outreach materials to help raise public awareness of the importance and value of wetlands each year on February 2, the anniversary of the date of the adoption of the convention in 1971; now, therefore, be it