World Water Day
Fresh water is essential to every living creature. This precious resource plays a leading role in everything from the food we drink to the energy we consume. That's why it's vital we protect fresh water from source to sea.
This World Water Day, we're celebrating individuals around the world who devote their lives to conserving fresh water and the wildlife and people who depend on it for survival. Take some time to explore their stories and support their efforts.
Partnering to protect a major river in South America
Sindy Martinez works in and along one of South America's longest rivers, the Orinoco River. A bit shy when you first meet her, she gets positively effusive when she talks about the Orinoco wildlife she helps to protect through her work at the Omacha Foundation.
River Rangers Protect Irrawaddy Dolphins
In the Mekong River, only 85 Irrawaddy dolphins remain, living among six different pools between Cambodia and Laos. Fishing nets are a threat to the species. River rangers help track the dolphins and enforce sustainable fishing practices to help the population.
Clean water for healthy communities
A proud mother of nine, Marie Georgette Dokou has emerged as a leader of the Women Health and Conservation Society (WHCS) in a village in Cameroon. Founded in 2008 with help from WWF, WHCS is a group of over 30 women committed to improving water access, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), among other issues.
Freshwater Facts
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Sustainable access to fresh water and sanitation leads to healthier people and economic growth, which facilitate improved environmental management. In other words, healthy communities help preserve a healthy planet, and a healthy planet is the foundation for healthy communities.
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Freshwater ecosystems support more than 125,000 species, from fish to aquatic mammals. They also provide a myriad of ecosystem services, including helping to regulate the temperature of the land and sea, creating clouds and affecting the weather, transporting nutrients and minerals, and providing water for drinking, recreation, farms and energy generation.
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Energy and water are interdependent. And while the role of water in hydropower is obvious, water also irrigates biofuels, plays an essential role in fracking, and cools thermoelectric power plants like coal, nuclear, natural gas, and oil. All of these methods of energy production can have serious environmental and social consequences.
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Protecting fresh water cannot happen alone. WWF partners with governments, businesses, international financial institutions and communities to ensure healthy freshwater systems exist to conserve wildlife and provide a sustainable future for all.
