Few know that this wetland is part of an important strategic system of natural origin, which must be taken care of.
Regarding the commemoration of World Wetlands Day, the Regional Autonomous Corporation of Cauca (CRC), carried out restoration actions on the Santa Catalina Wetland, located in Popayán, in the neighborhood of the same name, recognized as a strategic ecosystem of natural origin with emergent vegetation in water, with an extension of 1.69 Hectares.
In addition to promoting care for natural resources, with this day we wanted to send a message to the population and, especially, to young people about the importance of uniting actions that favor the construction of an Environmental and Sustainable Cauca
That Corporation, as reported, is executing more than 30 actions for the protection, conservation and restoration of wetlands, which consist of supporting with materials and supplies the execution of physical isolation of ecosystems, cleaning days, aesthetic and landscape beautification, signage environmental information, fish restocking, support for the construction of community nurseries to obtain plant material for the reforestation of wetlands and other strategic ecosystems. Likewise, isolate and reforest the protection strips of the wetlands with native forest species.
In the year 2022, 474 hectares were established through active and passive restoration in 22 municipalities, which consisted of the identification, delimitation and georeferencing of wetlands in various strategic places in the department.
Wetlands Day was instituted as a way of reminding the world that efforts should be made for their restoration, because according to figures, these ecosystems are in critical condition and tend to disappear, especially due to urbanization, which is very worrying for the humanity, because they are valuable for their ecological functions.
These ecosystems that provide the planet with fresh water are characterized by maintaining balance and basic ecological processes, such as water regulation, they filter water naturally, eliminate contaminants and contribute to local water supply, recharge and discharge of aquifers, help to filter polluting waste from runoff and dumping to improve water quality, purify the air. Likewise, wetlands control local climatic conditions, contribute to addressing climate change because they are the largest carbon collectors, even more than forests, and are the habitat of thousands of species of fauna and flora, many of them threatened and endangered. route of extinction
“Wetlands are freshwater reserves that have many ecosystem services, including mitigating floods, hosting thousands of species of flora and fauna, capturing carbon; However, they are disappearing worldwide, so it is essential to strengthen the actions of good practices that favor wetland restoration processes, which is why at the CRC we have been carrying out work in various wetlands in the department, but we also seek to create environmental awareness in all sectors through exercises that link the communities through awareness days”, affirmed the engineer Yesid González Duque, general director of the CRC.