Wetlands provide many benefits. They act as natural sponges that help control flooding by absorbing and slowly releasing water. They also filter and purify surface water. Wetlands are highly productive ecosystems that provide food and refuge for wildlife. They have economic value through activities like fishing, hunting, and recreation. Mangroves in particular can help buffer against storms and tsunamis as demonstrated in one Indian village.

1. The Need for Wetlands
By:
Abby Varghese
II B.Sc. Geography, Tourism & Travel Management
Madras Christian College

2. What are Wetlands?
A wetland is a land area that is saturated with water, either
permanently or seasonally, such that it takes on the characteristics of a
distinct ecosystem. Primarily, the factor that distinguishes wetlands
from other land forms or water bodies is the
characteristic vegetation that is adapted to its unique soil conditions:
Wetlands consist primarily of hydric soil, which supports aquatic plants.

3. Largest Wetlands in the World
The largest wetlands in the world include the Amazon River basin and
the West Siberian Plain. Another large wetland is the Pantanal, which
straddles Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay in South America.

4. World Wetlands Day
It marks the date of the signing of the Convention on Wetlands, called
the Ramsar Convention, on 2 February 1971, in the Iranian city
of Ramsar on the shores of the Caspian Sea. WWD was celebrated for
the first time in 1997 and made an encouraging beginning.
The Ramsar Convention chose Wetlands & Agriculture as the World
Wetlands Day theme for 2014, drawing attention to the need for the
wetland and agricultural sectors to work together.

5. Wetlands & Agriculture: The Partners of
Growth
Worldwide, wetlands have been drained to convert them into
agricultural land or industrial and urban areas. A realistic estimate is
that 50 % of the world's wetlands have been lost.
Examining relationship between wetlands and agriculture with the aim
to identify the successes and failures of agricultural use in different
types of wetlands, with reference to short-term and long-term benefits
and issues of sustainability.
From a sustainability perspective, reclamation of wetlands for
agriculture should be strongly discouraged.

6. Wetlands & Agriculture: The Partners of
Growth
• Use of FLOOD-TOLERANT CROP VARIETIES
• Extensive use of Agriculture for food production in combination with
other wetlands services.
Examples of such land uses are traditional crop cultivation methods
without chemical fertilizers or pesticides, grazing schemes involving
livestock, or traditional water management schemes to stimulate fish
production and to improve fish catches.

7. Types of Wetlands
Sub-Types
Mangrove
Carr
Major
Types
Swamps
Marshes
Bogs
Fens

8. Significance of Wetlands
• Wetlands prevent flooding by holding water much like a sponge. By
doing so, wetlands help keep river levels normal and filter and purify
the surface water.
• Wetlands accept water during storms and whenever water levels are
high. When water levels are low, wetlands slowly release water.
• Wetlands also release vegetative matter into rivers, which helps feed
fish in the rivers.
• Wetlands help to counter balance the human effect on rivers by
rejuvenating them and surrounding ecosystems. Many animals that
live in other habitats use wetlands for migration or reproduction.

9. Erosion Control
• Looking at pictures of deltas, one can tell that rivers deposit a lot of
sediment into the ocean. The sediment is from top soil that has been
eroded and washed away.
• Emergents (plants firmly rooted in the muddy bottom but with stalks
that rise high above the water surface) are able to radically slow the
flow of water. As a result, they counter the erosive forces of moving
water along lakes and rivers, and in rolling agricultural landscapes.
Erosion control efforts in aquatic areas often include the planting of
wetlands plants.

10. Wetlands as a Insurance
• They are highly productive ecosystems, and are able to capture energy and
provide food for many animals.
• They provide important refuges for wildlife in times of drought.
• They are naturally beautiful places and provide opportunities for recreation
activities such as boating, swimming, bushwalking and bird watching.
• They provide a natural water balance in the landscape and help to provide
protection against floods.
• They have a role in providing water quality protection in the catchment by
filtering pollutants such as sediments, nutrients, organic and inorganic
matter and bacteria.

11. Wetlands as a Insurance
• They support a wide variety of flora (plants) and fauna (animals) and form
different habitats and ecosystems.
• They provide nursery areas for fish, and breeding grounds for wildlife,
particularly water birds.
• Wetlands provide vital habitat for some species of threatened fauna.
• They provide refuge for migratory water birds that breed in the northern
hemisphere in countries such as China and Siberia. Thousands of migratory
water birds inhabit Australian wetlands each year.
• Many wetlands, are of cultural significance to aboriginal people.
• They provide opportunities for scientific research and are a source of
education for the community.

12. Benefits of Wetlands in Economical terms
• Drinking Water Quality:- Water is purified as water is absorbed by the
different levels & thus purifying the Ground Level.
• Flood Control:- The Wetland absorbs the water like a sponge & thus
reducing the chances of flooding.
• Fisheries
• Recreation
• Wildlife habitat

13. Benefits of Wetlands in Economical terms
Other commercial uses:-
• Reeds as a roofing material
• Fur-bearing animals, such as mink, muskrat and beaver, use wetlands
during some part of their life cycle. Income can be derived from
trapping these furbearers, either by direct sale of their pelts or by
leasing wetlands for the fur harvest.

14. Mangrove: A sub-type of Wetlands
• Mangroves have been reported to be able to help buffer
against tsunami, cyclones, and other storms. One village in Tamil
Nadu was protected from tsunami destruction - the villagers
in Naluvedapathy planted 80,244 saplings to get into the Guinness
Book of World Records. This created a kilometer-wide belt of trees of
various varieties. When the tsunami struck, much of the land around
the village was flooded, but the village itself suffered minimal
damage.