Green Blog

What are wetlands and why are they important? Wetlands are transitional areas between dry land and water that are often muddy, marshy or covered by shallow water. Wetlands are particularly valuable for providing ecosystem services including flood control and habitats for threatened and endangered species. Yet despite their many ecological benefits, wetlands are sometimes mistakenly viewed as “wasted” land because they cannot be used for homes or agriculture without drying out the wetland by changing the landscape and draining them.  Draining wetlands is an invasive process that destroys the benefits previously described above.  In many parts of the world, wetlands have been degraded or lost, and the demand for development is putting pressure on many of those that remain.

Key Benefits of Wetlands:

• Wetlands improve biodiversity by providing habitats for birds, fish, and plants. They comprise of only five percent of the land mass of the lower 48 U.S. states, and yet more than one-third of all threatened or endangered animal species in the U.S. are either located in wetland areas or depend on them for survival.

• Wetlands can improve water quality. The plants and animals living in wetlands trap sediment, and filter and break down pollutants, which helps improve water quality and provides clean drinking water for people.

• Wetlands can abate flooding by acting like a sponge, absorbing excess water to minimize the size and impact. In fact, some believe that the elimination of the wetlands in Louisiana may have worsened the impact of Hurricane Wetlands provide cultural and recreational value, allowing individuals to enjoy wildlife and maintaining coastal cultures.

The value of wetlands: Wetlands are under pressure because many people don’t understand the value and benefits they provide. Today, there are new movements to help people understand their  benefits.  The challenge is that people tend to think of “value” in terms of dollars, thereby placing value only on things that can be bought or sold, like a house or a car. Wetlands, while difficult to monetize, do provide great value. For example, wetlands purify water. Scientists can therefore calculate how expensive it would be for a town to build a purification plant instead of letting the wetland do the work. Although putting dollar values on any of these ecosystem services is both difficult and controversial, a team of scientists and economists estimated that tidal marsh, mangroves, swamps and floodplains produced $4 trillion in services per year.[1] That is a lot of money!  It shows just how important wetlands are to our quality of life.

Although not everyone understands the value of wetlands, these unique areas perform valuable functions for humans and the environment and need to be protected.

The author, Britt Harter is an award winning research scientist and consultant at Esty Environmental.

[1] Costanza, R., et al. 1997. The value of the world’s ecosystem services and natural capital. Nature 387:253-260.