Why are wetlands important?

Wetlands- a natural purification plant.They are rich and productive areas, they remove nutrients from surface and ground water by filtering and by converting nutrients to unavailable forms. Denitrification is arguably the most important of these reactions because humans have increased nitrate worldwide. Many wetlands also provide habitats for resident and migratory fish and wildlife, wetlands offer one of the best natural protections against flooding since they act as giant pads that soak up the excess rain and surface water. Because of the natural topography of wetlands, this absorbed water is evenly distributed over a large expanse and is almost immediately sucked into the ground where it feeds wetland plants.

Wetlands do not just assist human populations with drinking water and flood control and flood or hurricane damage reduction; they also serve as an important element of the economy. Wetlands sustain more life than any other ecosystem – as much as many tropical forests and more than good farmland. The high plant productivity of wetlands supports hundreds of different species and provides the critical breeding and rearing habitat for a wide diversity of wildlife. Wetlands act as natural water purification systems removing sediment, nutrients, and toxins from flowing water. They also reduce the effects of flooding.
Wetland functions:

• improve water quality by filtering out sediment and other contaminants
  


• provide ecological habitats for migrating bird populations
  


• breeding grounds for fish and shellfish
  


• moderate the effects of flooding - slow run-off, especially downstream from urban centers
  


• shoreline erosion control - act as a buffer for coastal storms
  


• recreation - canoeing, hunting, fishing, bird watching
  


• Act as recharge areas for groundwater.
  


• they absorb the impact of hydrologic events such as large waves or floods;
  


• they filter sediments and toxic substances;
  


• they supply food and essential habitat for many species of fish, shellfish, shorebirds, waterfowl, and furbearing mammals;
  


• they also provide products for food (wild rice, cranberries, fish, wildfowl), energy (peat, wood, charcoal), and building material (lumber);
  


• They are valuable recreational areas for activities such as hunting, fishing, and bird watching.
  
  
  Humans can maximize the area of healthy, functioning intertidal wetlands by minimising their impacts and by developing management strategies that protect, and where possible rehabilitate those ecosystems at risk.