Bermuda’s wetlands enjoy a special anniversary today, with 40 years since an international convention was signed to protect them.World Wetlands Day marks the 1971 Ramsar Convention, of which Bermuda is a member along with 158 other countries.Public Works Minister Derrick Burgess said Bermudians should take a moment to appreciate the Island’s wetland reserves. “The subtle diversity of species that live in our wetlands, and the changing variety of life throughout the year, makes these open spaces valuable to humans for the enjoyment of nature and their tranquility.”Bermuda now has seven protected “Ramsar Sites”: Somerset Long Bay Pond, Warwick Pond, Paget Marsh, Pembroke Marsh, Hungry Bay, Spittal Pond and Lover’s Lake. Since 1999, they have been set aside as internationally recognised sanctuaries.Buy Back Bermuda head and former Premier of Bermuda David Saul put forward Somerset Long Bay as a site worth visiting: “It’s the most westerly pond in Bermuda, and when migratory birds arrive here it’s the first they see. You get innumerable birds coming in there.“It’s also a total sanctuary. You can go out there and think you were in Bermuda in 1609.”Dr Saul also recommended the mangroves in Hungry Bay, Paget: “It’s beautiful during the day, but to kayak in there during a low tide at the dead of night is a wonderful experience.”Bermuda Environmental Sustainability Task Force (BEST) chairman Stuart Hayward said Spittal Pond in Smith’s held a special place for him. “My favourite is at Spittal Pond, because of its size and its varied watershed.”Bermudian wetlands range from mangrove and salt marsh to inland ponds. A Department of Conservation spokesman said the sites have been significantly restored in recent decades.“This position is in sharp contrast to earlier practices of destruction and elimination of wetland habitats, dating from the early days of settlement to the 1990s, when many were filled with garbage, ‘reclaimed’ for development and as a means of trying to control mosquitoes.”www.conservation.bm, www.ramsar.org.