World Wetlands Day 2026: Valuing nature where land meets sea — lessons from Veracruz, Mexico

This year’s World Wetlands Day, celebrated on 2 February under the theme “Wetlands and traditional knowledge: Celebrating cultural heritage,” invites the world to look beyond narrow economic metrics and recognize the deep, often overlooked value of wetlands — and the wisdom of the people who have long stewarded them.

What is nature really worth?

For communities living along coasts and wetlands, the answer lies not only in market prices or balance sheets but also in lived experience: protection from storms, clean water, fish on the table, fertile soils, and cultural practices passed down through generations. 

This year’s World Wetlands Day, celebrated on 2 February under the theme “Wetlands and traditional knowledge: Celebrating cultural heritage,” invites the world to look beyond narrow economic metrics and recognize the deep, often overlooked value of wetlands — and the wisdom of the people who have long stewarded them.

On Mexico’s Gulf Coast, in the state of Veracruz, this idea has been at the heart of ITTO’s work. Here, mangroves, flooded forests, rainforests, and coastal dune systems form a mosaic of wetlands that quietly underpin livelihoods, buffer climate extremes, and sustain biodiversity. Through an ambitious ITTO-supported project, these ecosystems were measured, valued, and crucially, reconnected with the traditional ecological knowledge of local communities.

Veracruz: where wetlands sustain life and culture

Stretching along the central coastal plain of the Gulf of Mexico, Veracruz is home to some of Mexico’s most diverse coastal forests. Mangroves mark the shifting boundary between land and sea, while flooded forests, rainforests and scrub forests on dunes protect inland communities from storm surges, regulate water flows and store vast amounts of carbon.

Yet these ecosystems have also been among the most degraded. Decades of deforestation and inappropriate land use — often driven by the perception that wetlands are “unproductive” — have taken a heavy toll. In Veracruz alone, an estimated 85% of coastal dune systems are degraded, weakening natural defences just as climate risks intensify.

“Historically, coastal forests in Mexico have been undervalued because their benefits were invisible in conventional planning,” says Ramón Carrillo, ITTO Projects Manager, who managed this project. 

“But for people in Veracruz, these forests are not abstract ecosystems — they are protection, food security and cultural identity. The value of the project lies in putting  numbers and narratives together to illustrate the true value of the ecosystem, known to the local communities.”

Putting numbers to nature — without losing its meaning

Launched with ITTO support in 2012, the project “Environmental assessment and economic valuation of ecosystem services provided by coastal forests in Veracruz, Mexico” set out to do something both technical and transformative: quantify the goods and services provided by coastal forests — and compare them with the benefits of the agricultural systems that often replace them.

The assessment covered a wide range of ecosystem services, including flood containment and storm protection, carbon sequestration, improved water quality, accelerated natural regeneration and habitat connectivity.

But the project went further than scientific measurement. Working closely with local communities, it developed criteria for community-based monitoring and valuation, ensuring that traditional knowledge and local perceptions were heeded while actively contrasting them with technical data.

The results were striking. When the full suite of services is taken into account, wetlands and flooded forests were found to be vastly more valuable than grazing land or cropland created through deforestation — a conclusion that challenges long-standing development assumptions.

“This work shows that wetlands are not ‘empty land’ waiting to be developed,’” Carrillo explains. “They are highly productive systems.” 

“When we align scientific evidence with traditional ecological knowledge, decision-making becomes not only smarter, but more inclusive,” he added.

Knowledge rooted in practice

One of the project’s most tangible legacies has been the production of practical, community-oriented publications designed to turn knowledge into action.

Two illustrated handbooks published by Mexico’s Institute of Ecology (INECOL), the project implementing agency, provide simple, locally tested techniques for restoring degraded coastal dunes and managing tree species sustainably. Drawing directly on community experience, they explain how to attract birds, bats and other wildlife to disperse seeds, restore habitat connectivity and regenerate native vegetation — using low-cost methods grounded in traditional practice.

Another publication, “Conociendo los manglares, las selvas inundables y los humedales herbáceos” (“Knowing mangroves, flooded forests and herbaceous wetlands”), offers an accessible guide to wetland ecosystems in Mexico, combining species information, legal frameworks and conservation status in clear, non-technical language.

Together with maps, videos, scientific papers and training workshops, these materials have helped bridge the gap between research institutions, policymakers and communities — a key step towards integrating wetlands into payment for ecosystem services schemes and sustainable land-use planning.

Wetlands for the future

Veracruz’s experience resonates far beyond Mexico. As climate change intensifies storms, floods and sea-level rise, wetlands are increasingly recognized as frontline defences — natural infrastructure that protects people while sustaining livelihoods.

For ITTO, the lessons from Veracruz demonstrate a broader commitment spanning 40 years. ITTO has supported mangrove conservation and wetland management through field projects, policy work, global assessments and educational resources, always with an emphasis on balancing development with the irreplaceable benefits provided by nature.

“Wetlands are among the most effective nature-based solutions we have for addressing today’s interconnected climate, biodiversity and development challenges,” said ITTO Executive Director Sheam Satkuru. 

“At ITTO, our work on mangroves, flooded forests, and other wetland ecosystems prioritizes sustainable management that is grounded in science and informed by traditional ecological knowledge. The experience in Veracruz clearly shows that when wetlands are properly valued, they become a foundation for resilient communities and sound public policy.”

On World Wetlands Day, Veracruz reminds us that the true value of wetlands lies not only in what they provide but also in how they connect culture, community, and our resilience — lessons the world can no longer afford to ignore.