SAN SALVADOR– To commemorate World Wetlands Day,  representatives of the Municipality of Puerto El Triunfo, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), through its Regional Program for Water Resource Management, the "Green Team" (environmental group) of the U.S. Embassy in El Salvador, the Fund for the Initiative of the Americas in El Salvador (FIAES), along with fishing cooperatives and several volunteers participated in several activities  that contribute to the conservation of marine and coastal resources in the Bay of Jiquilisco, including  the delivery of legal fishing nets, collection of solid wastes, and promoting a recycling program.

Under the theme "Wetlands and Water Management," the goal of World Wetlands Day 2013 is to raise awareness of the interdependence of water and wetlands, the adequate means to share water, and the fact that there would be no water without wetlands.

The use of legal fishing nets will contribute to maintaining the stability of populations of fish and shellfish in its natural environment.  The second activity focused on the cleaning of solid waste on the beach in Isla de Mendez.  This activity is part of the ecosystem management of the environment, which eliminates contamination and provides a best practice model for residents and visitors to the area.

The Ramsar Convention on wetlands includes a list of wetlands of international importance. This list consists of 1,886 wetlands from 159 countries, including 63,500 hectares in the Jiquilisco Bay, which was added in October 2005, according to the website of the convention (http://www.ramsar.org/cda/es/ramsar-documents-list-anno-elsalvador/main/ramsar/1-31-218%5E16420_4000_2__).  Jiquilisco Bay is the largest expanse of brackish and salt water in El Salvador, including its many estuaries and canals, sand dunes and beaches, several islands of various sizes, freshwater lagoon and mangroves. The site is home to the vast majority of waterfowl in the country and is the nesting site for species such as Rynchops niger (skimmer), Sterna antillarum (small tern), Charadrius wilsonia  (Wilson's Plover or thick-billed plover) and Haematopus palliatus (common American Oystercatchers). The beaches are also nesting sites for sea turtles (Chelonia agassizi-brown-, Eretmochelys imbricata -carey-, Lepidochelys olivaceae -golfina-, and Dermochelys-coriaceae –baula-), all endangered.

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