World Wetlands Day
Posted on 31st January 2022 at 11:50
What Is World Wetlands Day?
World Wetlands Day is celebrated annually on the 2nd February, to raise public awareness of the high importance of wetlands as a freshwater source and environmental habitats. It's a day to encourage actions to restore and preserve our wetlands.
This day is also to remember the signing of Ramsar Convention on Wetlands in Iranian City of Ramsar (1971).
Why Does This Matter?
As the wetlands are our freshwater source, we are using more than nature can restore. By doing this, we are ruining the ecosystem because all life depends on water, and we therefore need those water sources (i.e. wetlands).
Peat Bogs
Peat Bogs are vital for the landscape. They are formed in waterlogged conditions which reduces plants and sphagnum mosses decaying when they die. Instead of dying they gradually build up to form peat. Sometimes, peat bogs can be more than 10 metres deep. This is great food for the Large Heath Butterfly and Black Grouse.
Cotton grass in bogs have been used in the past for making candle wicks, dressing wounds, and pillow stuffing!
What Are Mires Beck Doing About It?
We have a huge range of wetlands who support us, including the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s North Cave Wetlands, as we sell them lots of Phragmites every year to improve their habitats and biodiversity at their wetland. The amount of Phragmites we grow and deliver is increasing to 30,000 per annum due to further projects in the area needing the plants. We will be relocating Phragmites production to our satellite location near Pocklington and expanding our site there. As well as staying in North Cave, expanding our production further into Yorkshire will give our charity the opportunity to offer more work experience to service users in need at the new location and expand the charity’s work nationally with much bigger distribution potential!
At Mires Beck, we have our very own bird feeding station, which the service users love to fill up with bird seed and their hand-made fatballs. They really enjoy helping the birds during this cold Winter period, as this time of the year is a struggle for wildlife finding their food. Our bird feeding station, along with the fact we have water on either side of us, attracts big wetland birds, which we hope to catch on camera soon!
What Can You Do To Help?
Please donate to support our charity’s work or get involved in a fundraiser to help us provide our service users the requirements to grow more Phragmites, and to therefore be able to help our Yorkshire wetlands improve their ecosystems and range of habitats for their wetland wildlife.
Another reason to donate to our charity is so that we can provide bird seed and equipment to our service users, for them to feed the birds at our new bird feeding station during this cold Winter period, which will help them learn about our ecosystem and about the birds we have at Mires Beck.
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