<p>Freshwater wetlands, particularly sites under Ramsar designation, are essential for climate regulation and biological diversity. However, extreme climatic events make wetlands more susceptible to habitat conversion and human-induced fires. In this context, we explored trends in water cover, burned area, and human-land use at Brazilian Ramsar sites. Between 1998 and 2022, water cover decreased in 16 of the 22 sites analyzed. At the same time, land use showed a significant increasing trend at ten sites. All Ramsar sites had fire outbreaks in the last decade, and three experienced a significant increase in burned areas. The human land use explained 10% of the annual burned area variability inside Ramsar sites, which increased to 48% when accounting for regional effects. Notably, a positive relationship between fire and land use was more evident among Amazon sites. Our synthesis of trends in Brazilian wetlands indicated widespread loss of water cover and expansion of human land use within the Ramsar sites. The relative importance of climatic drought and human-related uses of water differs across ecoregions. Furthermore, pressures on freshwater habitats are symptoms of a vast hydrographic network outside Ramsar site boundaries. Thus, we emphasize the importance of optimizing regional land use to preserve the integrity of wetland services. Preventing climate extremes from completely transforming wetlands might be an option in some Ramsar sites. Nevertheless, each site will demand actions to safeguard local habitat mosaics to integrate the distinct elements of the waterscape and associated biodiversity. </p>