🌍 Protect Wetlands for Wellness and Our Common Future

Wetlands are the kidneys of our planet — cleansing, balancing, and sustaining all forms of life.

They purify the water we drink, regulate the air we breathe, and offer us calm, beauty, and renewal — nurturing not only our physical health but also our mental and emotional wellbeing.

Yet, across the world, wetlands are under growing threat —
🌱 from biodiversity loss (BD) as unique species and natural harmony disappear,
🏞️ from land degradation (LD) as urbanization and pollution destroy their balance, and
☀️ from climate change (CC) as rising temperatures and floods reshape these fragile ecosystems.

When wetlands suffer, our minds and communities suffer too — because the peace, inspiration, and connection to nature they provide are essential for human wellness.

The 1st International Conference on Wellness in Wetlands 2025 (October 9–12, 2025 | Ape Gama, Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, Sri Lanka): Brought together over 100 onsite and online delegates from the USA, India, the Netherlands, Japan, Australia, the United Kingdom, Morocco, Kenya, Pakistan, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka. Participants included Ambassadors, ministers, government officials, Indigenous leaders, policymakers, wetland and mental health academics, practitioners, community representatives, and youth. Together, they explored the vital link between wetland health and human mental wellness, culminating in the signing of the Kingdom of Kotte Declaration—a global pledge to protect wetlands as living ecosystems essential for environmental balance and human well-being. This initiative was supported by the UNDP GEF SGP, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB), SriLankan Airlines, Kotte Green Tourism Network (KGTN), alongside various national and international governmental and non-governmental organizations.

The 2nd International Conference on Wellness in Wetlands 2026 (October 9–12, 2026 | Waters Edge Hotel, Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, Sri Lanka): Convened over 100 onsite and online delegates representing the USA, India, Bolivia, the Netherlands, Nepal, Australia, the United Kingdom, Austria, Kenya, and Sri Lanka. The event featured high-level participation from Ambassadors, ministers, the WHO Sri Lanka Country Representative, government officials, Indigenous leaders, policymakers, academics, and international volunteers. Building on the previous year's foundation, delegates explored deep connections between ecosystems and mental wellness, officially upgrading the Kingdom of Kotte Declaration into an active Call to Action focused on sustaining a global social movement and driving year-round community, educational, and research engagement. This initiative was supported by the World Health Organization (WHO), Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB), SriLankan Airlines, Professional Tourist Guide Association, Kotte Green Tourism Network (KGTN), Consumer Action Forum (CAF), Open Mind, and various other governmental and non-governmental organizations from Sri Lanka and different countries.

Together, they explored the deep link between wetland health and human mental wellness, uniting to sign the Kingdom of Kotte Declaration — a global pledge to protect wetlands as living ecosystems vital to both environmental balance and human wellbeing.

🌿 Now, we invite you to join this movement.
Let’s protect our wetlands, nurture our wellness, and create a sustainable, peaceful future — together.

✍️ Sign the Kingdom of Kotte Declaration today and be a partner in protecting wetlands for wellness and for our common future.

Dr. Sanath Mahawithanage, PhD
Academic Chair
Wellness in Wetlands 

Mr. Prasad Jayasinghe
Conference Chair -Wellness in Wetlands 2025

🙏 Special Acknowledgement

We extend our heartfelt thanks to the UNDP GEF Small Grants Programme – Sri Lanka, the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, SriLankan Airlines, Ada Derana 24, and the many academic, technical, and co-igniting organizations whose generous support and collaboration made the 1st International Conference on Wellness in Wetlands 2025 and the Kingdom of Kotte Declaration possible.

Your partnership continues to inspire our collective mission to protect wetlands and promote wellness for all. 🌿

Important Note about Our Declaration
We do not collect any money for this Declaration.
If you see options like “Support” or “Promote” when signing, please note that any payment goes only to Change.org, not to our organization.

If you wish, you may support Change.org directly — they will use your contribution to promote this Declaration to a larger global audience.

However, our main request is to sign and share the Declaration with your network and encourage others to sign as well.

Your support helps us spread this global message for nature conservation and wellness.

අපගේ ප්‍රකාශය පිළිබඳ වැදගත් සටහන

අප මෙම ප්‍රකාශය සඳහා මුදල් එකතු නොකරයි.
ඔබ අත්සන් කරන විට “Support” හෝ “Promote” වැනි විකල්පයක් පෙනුනහොත්, එම මුදල් Change.org වෙබ් අඩවියට පමණක්ලැබේ — අපගේ සංවිධානයට නොවේ.

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නමුත් අපගේ ප්‍රධාන ඉල්ලීම නම් නොමිලේ අත්සන් කිරීම, ඔබගේ ජාලයට බෙදාහැරීම සහ අනෙකුත් අයව අත්සන් කිරීමට ප්‍රේරණය කිරීමයි.

ඔබගේ සහයෝගය පරිසර හා මනෝසෞඛ්‍යය සඳහා ගෝලීය පණිවිඩය ව්‍යාප්ත කිරීමට විශාල සහාය වේ.