Wetlands from Valdes Peninsula, Ramsar Sites, essential balance for survival.

Valdes Peninsula guards so much natural wonders that it always seems to have something new to premiere and to show us the bountiful immensity with which nature favors us in places like this, thus emphatically reinforcing the intention of honoring, each day with a stronger commitment, our exquisite Heritage of Mankind.

Out of a total area close to 4000 km2, a small part is conformed by wetlands. These are ecosystems of great importance due to the hydrological and ecological processes they home, and to the biological diversity they nurture.

The ecological functions wetlands develop favor flood and shore erosion mitigation. Additionally, wetlands play an essential role in matter cycles and in water quality by retaining, transforming, and/or removing sediments, nutrients, and pollutant agents.

To birds, these vast areas are natural sanctuaries in line with their migration routes. Most of them journey across many international borders, reaching far distances of thousands of kilometers. They choose these places that serve them as ‘bridges’ for resting, feeding, nestling and breeding, or wintering – essential to their survival. That is why several countries signed international treaties to protect them. The most significant is the Convention on Wetlands, effective as of February 2nd 1971 and held in the Iranian city of Ramsar, which deals with conservation, and the rational use of wetlands, thus naming these areas Ramsar Sites.

Here is the link to a very interesting paper, which provided us with data for this article, and offers deep insight on this topic. It was produced by the Working Group for Ramsar Sites Aquatic Resources from Argentina, reporting to the Secretaría de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sustentable (the national office for environmental and sustainable development affairs).