World Wetlands Day 2002

World Wetlands theme for 2002 was "Wetlands: Water, Life, and Culture".

Music, songs, stories and oral traditions, creation myths, religious beliefs, medicinal practices, production systems, artefacts, hunting traditions, private dwellings and human settlements: the cultural expressions associated with wetlands are countless, in practically all regions of the world, spanning in many cases from prehistory to the present. Throughout its history, the work of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands has emphasized the importance of people in conservation efforts: their livelihoods, their welfare, their traditions and beliefs, their leisure as well as their work – not only their economic and social well-being, but their "cultural heritage" as well.