MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Jan. 28, 2015 - Conservationists across the globe are celebrating World Wetlands Day, recognizing the importance of these valuable ecosystems for humans and wildlife alike. Ducks Unlimited strives to raise public awareness about the benefits of wetlands as waterfowl habitat and a key to water quality, and World Wetlands Day focuses on conservation solutions for these critical parts of our landscape.

WWD marks the signing of the Convention on Wetlands on Feb. 2, 1971, in Ramsar, Iran. Each year since 1997, government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and groups of citizens at all levels of the community have taken advantage of the opportunity to raise public awareness of wetland values and benefits in general and the Ramsar Convention in particular.

This year's theme is "Wetlands for our Future," which is what Ducks Unlimited is all about.

"Our organizational focus is conserving wetlands to maintain healthy waterfowl populations, but the state of our wetlands affects everyone in many ways," said Ducks Unlimited Chief Scientist Scott Yaich. "World Wetlands Day is a great opportunity to raise awareness of the threats wetlands face and how they are important, but every day is Wetlands Day at Ducks Unlimited. As a leader in wetland conservation, our members, volunteers and supporters are always working to make a difference in wetlands conservation for the future."

Every duck, goose, and swan species in North America depends on wetland habitats throughout their life cycle. DU's programs reach from the Arctic tundra of Alaska to the tropical wetlands of Mexico and Latin America. DU conserves prairie potholes and native grasslands in the Great Plains, restoring bottomland hardwood forests in the lower Mississippi River Valley, protecting and enhancing the Chesapeake Bay watershed, and protecting and improving wetland habitats in the Central Valley of California and the Coastal Prairies of Texas, just to name a few.

Ducks Unlimited volunteers and staff continue banding together for waterfowl in all 50 states, Canada and Mexico because we know the landscapes most important to waterfowl are often different than those where most waterfowl supporters live.

In 2012, DU volunteers and staff began searching for a way to better connect conservation with fundraising and focus our resources on North America's most critical waterfowl landscapes. The solution was 16 regional initiatives intended to generate investment in wetlands and waterfowl.

The end of fiscal year 2014 marked a little more than two years since the initiative planning process began, but, as always, DU's conservation work is a never-ending endeavor. Habitat work continues daily across the United States as well as in Canada and Mexico.

Ducks Unlimited Inc. is the world's largest non-profit organization dedicated to conserving North America's continually disappearing waterfowl habitats. Established in 1937, Ducks Unlimited has conserved more than 13 million acres thanks to contributions from more than a million supporters across the continent. Guided by science and dedicated to program efficiency, DU works toward the vision of wetlands sufficient to fill the skies with waterfowl today, tomorrow and forever. For more information on our work, visit www.ducks.org. Connect with us on our Facebook page at facebook.com/DucksUnlimited, follow our tweets at twitter.com/DucksUnlimited and watch DU videos at youtube.com/DucksUnlimitedInc.

Media Contact:
Gregg Powers
(901) 758-3774
gpowers@ducks.org