Under a theme of "Preservation and Sustainable Use of Wetlands", the World Wetland Day was celebrated on Feb. 4, 2003 for the second time in Korea. The celebration, hosted by the Ministry of Environment, was held at the Korea Environment Institute auditorium. Among the participants of this special celebration and seminar were the Minister of Environment and the Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries.

The World Wetlands Day is celebrated every year in many countries around the world, to mark the signing of the Convention on the Wetlands in an Iranian city Ramsar in 1971. The day was celebrated for the first time in 1997. World Wetland Day is an opportunity for governments, organizations, and citizens to raise public awareness of the values and benefits of wetlands in general, and about the Ramsar Convention in particular.

The main purpose of the Ramsar Convention is developing and maintaining the international network of wetlands which are important for the conservation of global biological diversity. Also, it is aimed at sustaining the human life through the ecological and hydrological functions, that the wetlands perform.

Although in the past years in Korea, there were many events and celebrations held by various NGOs and institutions to celebrate this special day, 2002 was the very first year that the World Wetland Day was officially celebrated in Korea, hosted by the Ministery of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries. This year's celebration was hosted by the Ministry of Environment.

The Ministry of Environment is currently in the process of a 5-year project on survey of the nation's wetlands. It plans to designate some of the wetlands that are worth to be preserved as the Wetland Protection Area. When this project is completed in 2004, the Ministry plans to further implement measures for preservation of the nation's wetlands.