Wetlands provide ...
The wonder of wetlands
Wetlands contribute in no small way to our quality of life - indeed, to our very survival. They provide us with clean water, abundant food sources, medicines, fuel, and building material, as well as dyes, leather, tannins, oils, and resins.
Rice is the staple diet of nearly 3 billion people - half the world's population. It is grown in wetlands across Asia and west Africa, and in the United States. Almost as important is sago palm, which provides starch from which sago flour is made. And pal
ms from the wetlands of Africa yield valuable oils for cooking and soap making.
A world away from rice paddies are the reedbeds of the northern hemisphere, which filter and purify water as it flows through them. Fish and waterfowl breeding or nesting among the reeds provide valuable protein, while the reeds themselves are utilized fo
r roofing, and create livelihoods for mat weavers and basket makers.
As well as acting as life-saving natural breakwaters, tropical mangroves serve human
communities in an abundance of other important ways. They yield fuelwood for cooking, thatch
for roofing, fibres for textiles and paper making, and timber for building. Medicines are extracted from their bark, leaves, and fruits, and they also provide tannins and dyes, used extensively in the treatment of leather.
Wetlands also play an important role in the survival of birds. When
winter sets in across the northern hemisphere, it triggers the most
extraordinary mass movement of any living creature on Earth - the annual
migration of countless birds over vast distanc es (see below).
And wetlands everywhere provide all-important leisure facilities - canoeing and fishing, shell collecting and bird watching, swimming and snorkelling, hunting and sailing.
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