All over the world wetlands face continuous threats. Depending on the type of wetland the threats vary: from converting a mangrove forest into shrimp farms to drainage and burning of peatlands for oil palm plantations.

The UN-milennium ecosystem assessment indicates wetlands as one of the most threatened ecosystems. According to the Ramsar Database 84% of Ramsar listed wetlands had been effected by ecological change by 1999.

Worldwide around 50% of wetlands are estimated to have disappeared since 1900. During the first half of the previous century, this mostly occurred in the northern temperate zones. However, since the 1950s, tropical and sub-tropical wetlands are the latest victims. 

Reasons

Main reasons for continuing wetland degradation are economic development and inconsistencies in government policies. This results in drainage for agriculture, settlements and urbanization, pollution and hunting.

Mechanisms such as embanking a river, over-exploitation of groundwater resources or building dams, are only a few of many reasons why wetlands are deteriorating. Pollution from agricultural and industrial sources increase levels of nutrients, pesticides or heavy metals and seriously impair ecological processes.

Most wetland habitats are extremely vulnerable and highly biodiverse with many threatened fish, amphibians and other species.

Awareness

Policy and decision makers often lack knowledge (awareness) of the interconnection between functioning ecosystems and people’s livelihoods or between environmental degradation and poverty. As a result, wetlands are badly managed leading to the destruction of environmental services and products.

Furthermore, subsequent poverty escalates among livelihoods reliant on such products and services. Moreover, loss of the wetland and related cultural practices causes cultural degradation.

Therefore, mismanagement increases the vulnerability of the very poorest, which leads to a further cyclical decline in opportunities for both environment and people.