Wetlands vital to ecosystem

In this article, Molly Gaskin, president of the Point-a-Pierre Wildfowl Trust, discusses the significance of wetlands to the local ecosystem in recognition of World Water Day. World Water Day is celebrated annually on March 22 and according to the UN is a “means of focusing attention on the importance of freshwater and advocating for the sustainable management of freshwater resources.” 

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Water security is an increasing concern in many parts of the world, particularly the availability and quality of water. Understanding the value of water and wetlands, which hold vast amounts of water, is important. Global and local water cycles are strongly dependant on wetlands.

Land cover, forests and plains affect flow and retention of water and hence the availability of surface and ground water. 

We must understand the interaction between forests, wetlands, climate change and water. If not, we will increase the problems and vulnerability of people, communities and ecosystems to both natural and man-made disasters. Although 70 per cent of the world is covered by water, only 2.5 per cent is fresh water. 

Of that small amount, 70 per cent is frozen in the ice-caps; the remainder is present as soil moisture. This leaves less than one per cent of the world’s fresh water resources accessible for human use.

With climate change, increasing population, economic growth and lifestyle changes, there will be a greater demand for fresh water. Those most affected, of course, are the communities around wetlands and those directly dependent on them for their livelihoods.

In some way we are all dependent on the ecosystem services provided by wetlands whether it is the fish and other food that they supply; the freshwater of inland wetlands; the trees and plants, and/or the protection from flooding and storms; or the nature-based tourism and recreational spaces they provide. 

In fact, wetlands in their natural state are among the most productive ecosystems in the world. Yes, there are millions of mosquitoes, but they, together with thousands of other insects form an essential food supply for many fish, birds, bats and other wildlife. 

As the ice caps melt, wetlands and mangroves will be affected negatively by sea-level rise. There will be tidal surges and coastal flooding that will damage dwellings and nearby agricultural fields. 

The Atlantic coastline is eroding and retreating by up to one metre per year. Sea water will continue to penetrate inland, contaminating agricultural soil and freshwater supplies, which in small islands are limited.

Indigenous waterfowl rely on wetlands for feeding and nesting. Temperate species use them as migratory stopping-off areas. One hundred and fifty-seven species, including our national bird, the Scarlet Ibis, depend on wetlands for their survival. 

Apart from the birds which normally live in the wetland, large communal roosts are formed every evening by several species, such as the cattle egret which feed elsewhere in the day. The reverse is true and some species which feed in the wetland come from surrounding non-swampy areas.

Loss of our wetlands would mean loss of many of these birds. It will also mean loss of many species of fish, and in turn our fisheries. A coastal wetland and marsh is a delicately balanced system dependent on the free flow of the tide, rivers and steams that feed it fresh water. 

They are used as spawning and nursery areas, and healthy coastal fisheries depend on healthy estuaries and wetlands. Sixty to 70 per cent of fish in our coastal waters depend on wetlands for food, spawning and shelter at some point in their lives.

Estuaries, like the Caroni Wetland and other smaller wetlands on the west coast, are very important places. They are great mixing bowls of nutrients and food. At high tide, flood mixture is pushed landwards while at low tides it flows back into the wetland or marsh as the tide flows back to the sea. 

Inland wetlands like the Nariva Wetlands on the east coast of Trinidad is a key source of freshwater. With their capacity to hold, filter and detoxify water, they are essential for human use. 

Freshwater also plays a critical role in the production of food. This wetland protects not only the east coast, but all of central Trinidad from violent storms and hurricanes coming in from the Atlantic, protecting farmlands, agriculture, infrastructure and people. The misuse and destruction of this and other wetlands will have the most damaging consequences.

An increased awareness and appreciation of ecosystem services from wetlands and other water sources is essential for designing appropriate policies which should be fully integrated into all major decisions.

In this article, Molly Gaskin, president of the Point-a-Pierre Wildfowl Trust, discusses the significance of wetlands to the local ecosystem in recognition of World Water Day. 

World Water Day is celebrated annually on March 22 and according to the UN is a “means of focusing attention on the importance of freshwater and advocating for the sustainable management of freshwater resources.” 

Water security is an increasing concern in many parts of the world, particularly the availability and quality of water. Understanding the value of water and wetlands, which hold vast amounts of water, is important. Global and local water cycles are strongly dependant on wetlands.

Land cover, forests and plains affect flow and retention of water and hence the availability of surface and ground water. 

We must understand the interaction between forests, wetlands, climate change and water. If not, we will increase the problems and vulnerability of people, communities and ecosystems to both natural and man-made disasters. Although 70 per cent of the world is covered by water, only 2.5 per cent is fresh water. 

Of that small amount, 70 per cent is frozen in the ice-caps; the remainder is present as soil moisture. This leaves less than one per cent of the world’s fresh water resources accessible for human use.

With climate change, increasing population, economic growth and lifestyle changes, there will be a greater demand for fresh water. Those most affected, of course, are the communities around wetlands and those directly dependent on them for their livelihoods.

In some way we are all dependent on the ecosystem services provided by wetlands whether it is the fish and other food that they supply; the freshwater of inland wetlands; the trees and plants, and/or the protection from flooding and storms; or the nature-based tourism and recreational spaces they provide. 

In fact, wetlands in their natural state are among the most productive ecosystems in the world. Yes, there are millions of mosquitoes, but they, together with thousands of other insects form an essential food supply for many fish, birds, bats and other wildlife. 

As the ice caps melt, wetlands and mangroves will be affected negatively by sea-level rise. There will be tidal surges and coastal flooding that will damage dwellings and nearby agricultural fields. 

The Atlantic coastline is eroding and retreating by up to one metre per year. Sea water will continue to penetrate inland, contaminating agricultural soil and freshwater supplies, which in small islands are limited.

Indigenous waterfowl rely on wetlands for feeding and nesting. Temperate species use them as migratory stopping-off areas. One hundred and fifty-seven species, including our national bird, the Scarlet Ibis, depend on wetlands for their survival. 

Apart from the birds which normally live in the wetland, large communal roosts are formed every evening by several species, such as the cattle egret which feed elsewhere in the day. The reverse is true and some species which feed in the wetland come from surrounding non-swampy areas.

Loss of our wetlands would mean loss of many of these birds. It will also mean loss of many species of fish, and in turn our fisheries. A coastal wetland and marsh is a delicately balanced system dependent on the free flow of the tide, rivers and steams that feed it fresh water. 

They are used as spawning and nursery areas, and healthy coastal fisheries depend on healthy estuaries and wetlands. Sixty to 70 per cent of fish in our coastal waters depend on wetlands for food, spawning and shelter at some point in their lives.

Estuaries, like the Caroni Wetland and other smaller wetlands on the west coast, are very important places. They are great mixing bowls of nutrients and food. At high tide, flood mixture is pushed landwards while at low tides it flows back into the wetland or marsh as the tide flows back to the sea. 

Inland wetlands like the Nariva Wetlands on the east coast of Trinidad is a key source of freshwater. With their capacity to hold, filter and detoxify water, they are essential for human use. 

Freshwater also plays a critical role in the production of food. This wetland protects not only the east coast, but all of central Trinidad from violent storms and hurricanes coming in from the Atlantic, protecting farmlands, agriculture, infrastructure and people. The misuse and destruction of this and other wetlands will have the most damaging consequences.

An increased awareness and appreciation of ecosystem services from wetlands and other water sources is essential for designing appropriate policies which should be fully integrated into all major decisions.