Happy World Wetlands Day!
2nd February is the anniversary of the Ramsar Convention being signed, to protect wetlands around the world. WWT founder Sir Peter Scott was the keynote speaker when the Convention was launched in 1971.
Wetlands are arguably even more important now, than they were back in 1971. As we learn to mitigate and adapt to climate change, wetlands are a key habitat. They store rainwater and release it slowly which helps to protect us from floods and drought.
Wetlands also filter water, which helps to reduce pollution. And they store more carbon in their soil than even rainforests do.
More than anything, they are wondrous places full of wildlife which you can enjoy at any of our ten wetland reserves around the UK.
WWT has projects going on around the world – find out the latest from Cambodia for example, where we’re helping people to build their own sustainable livelihoods.
We’re also closely involved in active management of wetlands in the UK, and the political decisions that affect them. Today, our Head of Government Affairs Richard Benwell posted a blog on the website of Wildlife & Countryside Link, which is an umbrella body that helps conservation organisations such as WWT to talk to Whitehall and Westminster. We’ve also pasted the blog below – it gives just a glimpse of the amount of work that goes on behind the scenes.
In fact we’re going to slowly expand our news page to include more blogs like this in future, and much more from around the Trust. Have you ever read Julia’s swan diary, Phoebe’s duck diary or Paul Rose’s flamingo diary? Or looked at our latest sightings pages, like Paul Stevens' weekly update from Arundel?
If you’re a journalist then don’t worry, our press releases will still be here. Eventually we’ll marshal all our news and views efficiently on a news/blog portal. But for the moment, please enjoy a range of news, blogs and supporter updates via our news feed. And happy World Wetlands Day!
Better off wetter - Happy World Wetlands Day!
Please enjoy World Wetlands Day - go find a frog, dig a pond, or romp in a bog. Together, let’s use the day to remind ourselves, our international partners and our own politicians that - manage the water right - and we really are better off wetter. It’s a day to celebrate a successful international environmental agreement: the Convention on Wetlands, signed 45 years ago in the Iranian city of Ramsar on the shores of the Caspian Sea. This year, we mark the importance of wetlands for livelihoods.
But even as we celebrate we must check our own reflection. UK wetlands are in a parlous state. Only a fifth of our rivers and streams are in good condition, while sensitive habitats like peatlands are burnt and drained to the edge of destruction. This is terrible for wildlife and the environment. Wetlands make up 3% of the UK’s land surface, but support around 10% of our species. So, every time we pollute a river or grant a licence to burn, the damage we do to nature is multiplied. But the consequences are serious for livelihoods here in the UK too. Our connections to wetlands are rarely as direct as in other countries where WWT works, like Cambodia and Vietnam, where a polluted river can mean severe poverty and lost lives.
Nevertheless, protecting and restoring wetlands makes sense for UK society. Though it may not be obvious as we deal with winter flooding, we really are better off wetter. Improved water management brings healthier wildlife, safer communities and millions of pounds of value in “natural wealth” and economic benefit.
In the uplands, restoring peatland helps “sponge up” water, slowing the flow and reducing flooding. It may seem counter-intuitive, but one of the best answers to flooding is more wetlands. Natural England must urgently review is licensing policies. In our farmland, reducing agricultural pollution that’s choking our rivers would reduce water bills.
This year, Government must spend every possible penny of the Common Agricultural Policy to reward farmers to improve the environment. In our coastland, cleaner water is great for our fishing industry, and managed wetland projects like WWT’s Steart Marshes and RSPB’s Wallasea safeguard communities against rising sea levels. Natural coastal defence should surely be part of the remit of the National Flood Resilience Review. In our cities, wetlands siphon away water as well as improving quality of life.
As the Housing and Planning Bill goes through Parliament, we would be crazy to pave the way for 300,000 new homes a year, without making sustainable drainage a mandatory part of every development. You can find many of these ideas in Wildlife and Countryside Link’s Blueprint for Water.
It’s easy when we look at international deals like Ramsar, the Paris climate agreement, or the Sustainable Development Goals, to pass judgement on the rest of the world, but forget to check our own record.
I hope you’ll join me today in making a splash for World Wetlands Day and that this year policymakers around the world – and here at home – can take that spirit forwards with action to get our wetlands working for people and for wildlife.
Richard Benwell
Member of the Blueprint for Water Working Group
Head of Government Affairs, Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust
