If water truly is the stuff of life, then the world's wetlands are the key to the survival of all living things on our planet. They provide a unique refuge for a wealth of plants and animal. Wetlands are made of up complex ecosystems that provide an ideal habitat for plants and wildlife- a complex ecosystem which helps sustain life not just in the wetlands themselves, but in their surrounding habitats as well.  

But below the surface, wetlands also do a lot of really clever stuff:

1. They can supply our drinking water. Wetlands help to provide most of the world's drinking water by slowly feeding into our rivers, reservoirs and groundwater. The USA's Environment Protection Agency says 'Wetlands are the foundation of our nation's water resources'.

2. Wetlands help to clean our drinking water. They can remove up to 60 per cent of metals in the water, trap and retain up to 90 per cent of sediment from runoff and eliminate up to 90 per cent of nitrogen. Thus. they help to clean the water before it goes into our rivers and reservoirs for drinking.

3. They can use the filtered-out nutrients to produce a stunning array of wetland wildlife and beautiful inspiring landscapes.

4. They can provide us with raw materials and food – more than half the world relies on wetland-grown rice for their staple diet.

5. They can protect us from flooding by storing rainfall and buffering us from the sea.

6. Wetlands are good for us. Studies have shown that being near water helps ill people to recuperate faster, and being around nature reduces stress levels. Put water and nature together and you get a wetland!

7. Peat wetlands alone store more carbon in the soil than rainforests do. They store a third of the world's total despite only taking up 3 per cent of the world's surface.

8. Wetlands have amazing biodiversity. All life needs water and nearly all of it needs land too at some point. More than 100,000 species of animal rely on freshwater ecosystems alone (half of which are insects!).

9. Wetlands power industry. It takes 8,000 litres of water to make a pair of leather shoes – including feeding and supporting a cow and processing its hide into leather.

10. Wetlands are financially valuable. They provide us with a huge amount of services for free, including cleaning our water and buffering us from floods. If we had to meet these costs ourselves, economists estimate the opportunity cost in the UK would be at least £6.7bn.

11. Wetland plants are used extensively in medicine. More than 80 per cent of the world's population relies on traditional medicines from plants and animals.

 

Sadly, most of our wetlands have been lost and the remaining ones are very vulnerable to damage. They're often seen as wastelands or non-productive land so they're filled in or destroyed, without people realising the wider impact for plant, animal and human life.

It's a bitter fact that England has lost 90 per cent of its wetlands in the last 400 years. Currently 57 per cent of freshwater and wetland species have declined, and 29 per cent have declined strongly. The world has lost about half its wetlands in the last 100 years. Most of the losses in the UK and globally are due to wetlands being drained for agriculture or to be built upon.

But there's hope. Unlike ancient woodland and rainforest that take centuries to regenerate, new technology can create new wetlands in a matter of months and years.

Creating wetlands

Wetlands are amazing. Where land meets water, there's more wildlife than almost anywhere on the planet. Animals literally queue to get into wetlands. They're great places to get close to wildlife. They're places to relax, be inspired and feel at one with the world around you.

But wetlands have a problem. Because they are usually in low-lying areas, and easily accessible, they are prime targets for development. By draining a wetland, and building homes, roads and factories, a nation may boost its economic performance; but this is almost always at the expense of biodiversity.

Yet it's not all bad news. Uniquely, wetlands can be created – or recreated – much more quickly and easily than other vital habitats such as ancient woodlands, hedgerows or rainforest. As Baroness Barbara Young, chief executive of the Environment Agency, says, "Just add water!"

One example is the Great Fen Project in the heart of East Anglia in the UK. This far-sighted and ambitious scheme is converting arable fields back into fenland, to link two ancient remnants of the fenland landscape, Woodwalton and Holme Fens.

These nature reserves are almost the only remaining examples of a wetland habitat that once covered most of the region. By using landscape-scale management techniques, the project aims to create a much bigger refuge, and provide a home for some of our most threatened wildlife.

The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT)-saving wetlands

The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) is a conservation charity that saves wetlands, which are essential for life itself. Wetlands are the primary source of drinking water for people and wildlife. They also connect us with nature, and with ourselves, through beautiful landscapes and inspiring encounters with wildlife.

WWT is one of the world's leading science and conservation institutions in its field. It works across the UK and the world to save wetlands for wildlife and people. WWT's ethos starts with the simple act of feeding a duck. That innocent connection with nature is more special if you're feeding – say - the world's rarest goose, saved from extinction by WWT's expert aviculturists. It's even more special if you're surrounded by some of the UK's top wildlife at one of WWT's world class reserves, carefully designed and managed so wildlife will flourish.

WWT takes this wetland expertise around the world by rescuing endangered species from the edge of extinction. It investigates what's damaging the wetlands on which people and wildlife depend. WWT protects, repairs and actually creates exciting new wetlands for people and wildlife.

WWT works with communities, businesses and governments to help people live sustainably alongside wetlands, benefitting from the water, food, materials, shelter, livelihoods and enjoyment a well-managed wetland can provide.

WWT in numbers:

• 9 WWT Wetland Centres bring visitors and wildlife together around the most important substance in the world - water.
• 350 staff, including experts in plants, animals, health and water management, help communities and wildlife to live in harmony with the natural environment.
• 1,000 volunteers from local communities bring wetland nature alive for visitors to our Wetland Centres, and help to monitor wildlife and maintain wetland habitats.
• 3,000 hectares of prime wetland habitat are managed by WWT, much of it designated as nationally or internationally important for wildlife. We fence off as little as possible so you can get close to the action.
• 50,000 schoolchildren learn about water and the natural environment at our Wetland Centres every year, including 15,000 from disadvantaged areas through our free school visits scheme.
• 200,000 WWT members support our work in the UK and around the world, as part of the WWT family.
• 1 million visitors to our Wetland Centres are invited to get close to nature and find that personal connection between yourself and nature – either on your own or sharing the experience with the people you love.

Several million people, animals and plants have benefitted from WWT's work since 1946 to save and celebrate wetlands for wildlife and people - and the number continues to grow every day.

Wetlands, wildlife and people are interlinked. So if you want to save a beautiful wetland bird from extinction, you have to provide it with a wetland home. And to keep that wetland home, local people need to appreciate the value they get from the wetland so they don't destroy it. That's why WWT is taking action to make wetlands places for people and wildlife.  It's work is rooted in high quality science and research. WWT has saved baby birds from extinction in cardboard boxes and ice cream tubs and scraped insects off the car windscreen to feed the baby chicks. It's all in a day's work at WWT. Here's just a few of the exciting projects of WWT.

Unforgettable Wetland Centre Experiences

WWT creates and maintains thousands of hectares of wetland habitat to support maximum biodiversity and protects struggling species like water voles and migratory geese. Being immersed in nature is good for us mentally and physically, as many studies have shown. So instead of fencing off the beautiful landscapes, WWT brings people and nature together through canoe safaris, electric boats, innovative hides and fascinating exhibits. It has resident collections of animals from wetlands around the world, you can even hand-feed the world's rarest goose! A million visitors a year experience their own personal physical and spiritual connection with nature through simply enjoying a great day out.

Spoon-billed sandpiper

Fewer than 100 pairs of this tiny bird remain in the wild, together weighing less than a single mute swan. WWT's aviculturists, working in Far East Russia, have already boosted the number of fledglings by a quarter. They're also working with partners to save the coastal wetlands on which the 'spoonies' rely, by showing people how important wetlands are for humans too.

Steart Marshes Working Wetland

Britain's iconic intertidal landscapes are slowly being lost to rising sea levels caused by climate change. To compensate for habitat loss, WWT has designed Britain's biggest new wetland project at the Steart Peninsula at the mouth of the River Parrett. The 500 hectare reserve will support fish stocks and livestock grazing and protect local properties from flooding. They've carefully designed it to be a haven for a rich variety of wildlife. They are also putting in paths and hides so people can enjoy the wildlife, and working with local schools and communities to share this vital part of their local landscape.

Inspiring Generations

WWT is about bringing wetlands, wildlife and people together. More than 2.2 million school children have enjoyed a fun learning experience at their Wetland Centres across the UK. WWT even welcomes 60,000 pupils from disadvantaged areas to their Wetland Centres completely free of charge. As well as exploring their inspiring wetlands, pupils can take part in guided learning session outdoors: pond dipping, looking for birds, hunting for invertebrates, exploring wetland habitats and lots more.

Madagascar pochard

This lovely little duck was thought to be extinct until a pocket of 22 survivors was discovered. WWT's aviculturists have now increased the species' numbers to more than 80. But there is still a need to fix the damage to wetlands that's caused its catastrophic demise. Their wetland conservationists are working together with local communities to find ways of living that protect wetlands and the clean water, natural resources and flood protection they bring – for the benefit of Madagascar's people as well as the pochard and other local wildlife.

SuDS for Schools

Many of the UK's rivers flood because the wetlands around them have been built upon. Where the wetlands used to store rainwater, it now runs straight off tarmac and roofs and can overload our drains, streams and rivers. WWT's wetland designers are working with schools and water companies to do something about this. They're creating mini-wetland features in school grounds that solve the schools' drainage needs and ease pressure on local streams. But most fun of all – the water goes into attractive features and ponds that brighten up the schools, benefit local wildlife and bring the children's nature studies alive – literally!

Great Crane Project

Big, beautiful cranes died out in Britain 400 years ago due to loss of wetlands and, frankly, being a tasty dinner for our ancestors. Now WWT's aviculturists, dressed in crane suits, are acting as parents and teaching survival skills to young cranes so this iconic species can be reintroduced into the west of Britain. Almost 100 youngsters have been released in Somerset, where partners are working with local landowners and communities to maintain wetland habitats to support a range of wildlife.

Nepal Wetlands

The Koshi Wetlands store floodwater running off Mount Everest before it reaches India. The amazing wildlife includes endemic fish, crocodiles and even a dolphin hundreds of miles from the sea! Thousands of people rely on the wetlands for drinking water, food and building their homes. But this is causing lots of damage and if the wetlands become polluted, or lost to development, everyone will lose the benefits. WWT and partner organisations have worked with the Koshi communities to find great solutions. For example local people are now removing damaging invasive plants and using them to make chemical-free compost and smokeless fuel for fires.

Wetlands — swamps, marshes and other water-saturated lands — link organisms in land and water in a way that allows them to coexist naturally.

Unfortunately, wetlands are rapidly being replaced for agriculture or urban development, which takes away some of the ecosystem services that these ecosystems provide for various species, including humans.

Commemorating World Wetlands day which falls on February 2, let's take a look at five facts you might not know about these unique ecosystems.

1. Wetlands are the 'kidneys of the landscape'

Similar to human kidneys, the organs that extract waste from our blood and balance body fluids, wetlands have the ability to clean the water that flows through them, mitigate large flood events and recharge underground aquifers.

Wetlands can also provide fisheries and timber resources, habitat for biodiversity, and protect coastal communities from extreme events, such as typhoons and hurricanes.  They also make lucrative destinations for ecotourism, shoring up the bottom line for local economies across the globe.

2. Wetlands can mitigate climate change

Coastal wetlands such as mangroves forests sequester and store large quantities of blue carbon in the vegetation and the sediment below. 'Blue carbon' is the carbon that is stored naturally by marine and coastal ecosystems, hence the name. Blue carbon ecosystems hold a LOT of carbon — a given area of mangrove forest, for example, can store up to 10 times as much carbon as the same area of land-based forest. It's important to protect and conserve blue carbon because the release of this carbon into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide (CO2) is a major driver of climate change.

 

3. Wetlands are a habitat for biodiversity

The species found in wetlands are some of the most unique in the world because they've evolved specifically to survive in these hydrologically changing ecosystems. Alligators, crocodiles, muskrats, nutrias, fish species and hundreds of birds, including mallards, geese and herons are all found in wetlands. More than half of the 800 species of protected migratory birds in the U.S. relay on wetlands. The vegetation found in wetlands is also unique as they have evolved to survive in seasonally flooded and saline conditions. Some examples include the cattail in freshwater wetlands and mangrove species in coastal wetlands.

 4. Many of the world's wetlands are degraded

The threats to wetlands continue as many of the wetlands are still being drained, destroyed and replaced with agricultural fields, commercial and residential urban developments. In the case of coastal wetlands, many are still cleared for aquaculture (fish and shrimp ponds). The destruction of wetlands also negatively impacts the lives of millions of humans that depend on the ecosystem services provided by the wetlands.

 

 5. All our support for sustainable fishing can help protect wetlands

To protect coastal wetlands from aquaculture, try finding sustainable alternatives to avoid eating farmed shrimp from cleared mangrove areas. We all can do this by shopping at stores that have made commitments to selling sustainable seafood, using mobile apps that identify sustainable product and looking for seafood eco-label logos, such as the Marine Stewardship Council.

 

  

 

References/Sources:

https://www.wwt.org.uk/conservation/wetlands/#

https://www.wwt.org.uk/conservation/our-work/

https://blog.conservation.org/2018/02/5-things-you-should-know-about-wetlands/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIt_bx9Kf22QIVzJPtCh1DTANLEAMYASAAEgLg2_D_BwE