Hunting and Environment. World Day of wetlands established in 2003 on the occasion of the World Year of Water announced by the United Nations. The date chosen is that of the signing of the Ramsar Convention, which took place on February 2, 1971 in the Iranian city of the same name, which sanctioned the protection, worldwide, of these habitats.
The subject of the Convention is the great variety of wetlands, including: marshy areas, swamps, peat bogs or natural or artificial water areas, permanent or transitory, with stagnant or running water, fresh, brackish or salt, including sea water areas.
Also included are the riparian, fluvial or marine areas, adjacent to the wetlands, the islands and the expanses of sea water in the event that the depth, when there is low tide, does not exceed six meters or if the same are within wetland boundaries and are of importance to the site's waterfowl populations.
Wetlands play an important ecological role in regulating the water regime and as a habitat for flora and fauna; they are the ecosystems with the highest biodiversity on Earth. There is a close relationship between wetlands and quality of life. For example, the latest sites included in the Ramsar Convention are in Zimbabwe and are of particular importance for the water and biological protection of that country. In fact, during the Global Risk of the World Economic Forum 2016, the water crisis was indicated as one of the top three planetary risk factors.
As hunters, the protection of water in general and of wetlands in particular must find us particularly present and interested. Without these environments and related fauna, many hunting enthusiasts, forms and traditions could no longer exist.
Of particular importance in the continuous loss of agricultural land and natural habitats are environmental restoration due to hunting activities. Even if the ultimate goal is the collection, in fact the creation of thousands of micro sites consisting of fixed stalking, wildlife farms and not least by the various ATCs, are a bulwark to agricultural standardization and homologation and to the consumption of land for civil and industrial area of vast areas making possible the presence of animal and vegetable species otherwise destined to an unstoppable decline.
The management of natural wetlands is fundamental as they require continuous maintenance and care in order to avoid both natural phenomena such as eutrophication, drought or vegetational deterioration, and unnatural ones such as pollution, irrational withdrawal of water resources and continuous unjustified remediation.
Last but not least, the development of new and less impacting techniques such as the use of no-tox shots instead of lead or the obligation to maintain the water level and the environment throughout the season deserves attention. The awareness of hunters on the usefulness of these habitats is fundamental in order to systematically protect and control them.
(February 12, 2016)
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