A wetland is land covered by water – salt, fresh or brackish – either seasonally or permanently. Wetlands are among the most diverse ecosystems on our planet. They include peatlands, mangroves, salt marshes, seagrass meadows, coral reefs, reed beds, wet grasslands, fens, estuaries, rivers, streams, lakes and lagoons. They vary widely in size, from a garden pond to an area of millions of square kilometres. Different wetland habitats often knit together to form complex ecosystems, which are vital to a huge number of species and underpin fundamental ecological processes that keep our planet healthy.

Despite their importance, wetlands are our planet’s most endangered ecosystems, with research suggesting they are disappearing three times faster than forests. A driver for this is said to be a mindset that believes wetlands to be wastelands. Subsequently, wetlands are dredged, drained or infilled for development and agriculture or industrially extracted from for resources. Not only are important habitats lost, but also a host of negative impacts ensue. We lose our natural buffers against floods, hurricanes, tsunamis and droughts. We also lose the land’s natural abilities to enhance water quality, purify polluted waters, moderate stream flows, and control coastal and riparian erosion.

Wetlands are also huge carbon stores. But when they are drained or destroyed, they become carbon sources. All wetland types sequester carbon through the photosynthesis of plants, but peatlands, mangroves and seagrass meadows are particularly effective at drawing down carbon. Peatlands are believed to store an estimated 30 percent of all land-based carbon – twice as much as the world’s forests combined. This makes wetlands the most effective carbon sinks on Earth and fundamental to discussions on climate change.

It is urgent to preserve, protect, restore and revive wetlands. In 1971, the Convention on Wetlands, also known as the Ramsar Convention, an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands, was signed. Since then, wetlands deemed of international importance have been given the designation of a Ramsar site, rallying local support and international cooperation in their conservation.

Wetland restoration projects are happening all over the world. In the Nordic-Baltic region, huge peatland-restoration efforts are underway, with more than 20,000 hectares already restored. In Senegal, the world’s largest mangrove reforestation project is happening, with ambitions to plant 79  million mangrove trees on more than 10,000 hectares. In Indonesia, on the island of Java, mangroves are also being restored to offer local communities a whole host of ecosystem services. In the USA, in the state of Louisiana, which is home to the country’s largest wetland, the state is investing in understanding, mitigating and restoring wetland-habitat loss caused by upstream development, which is resulting in a reduction of the wetland area of over 12,000 square kilometres by 75 square kilometres per year from erosion.

The good news is that wetlands are increasingly viewed as vital ecosystems. But efforts must be ramped up to slow down and halt the destruction of wetlands worldwide. Fortunately, many of us live close to wetland ecosystems and can actively participate in their protection, preservation and restoration.

Sources on request.