Wetlands & Well-Being - What's the Link?

It's World Wetlands Day and the theme is “Wetlands and human well-being”. The goal is to highlight how all aspects of human well-being are tied to the health of the world’s wetlands - physical, mental, and environmental.

Did You Know?

More than a billion people across the world depend on wetlands for their livelihoods – that’s about one in eight people on Earth!
Wetlands safeguard the 60% of humanity along coastlines against storm surges, hurricanes and tsunamis.
Research shows that wetland landscapes positively impact mental well-being.

What Are Wetlands?

Wetlands are land areas that are saturated or flooded with water either permanently or seasonally. They cover about 6% of the Earth’s land surface and come in 3 types:

Freshwater: Rivers, lakes, pools, flood plains, peatlands, marshes & swamps.
Saltwater: Estuaries, mudflats, saltwater marshes, mangroves, lagoons, coral reefs & shellfish reefs.
Human-made: Fishponds, rice paddies, reservoirs & saltpans.

Four Reasons Why Wetlands Are Vital for Humanity

Wetlands store more carbon than forests.

Peatlands cover 3% of our planet yet store around 30% of all land-based carbon.
Coastal wetlands like mangroves sequester and store carbon up to 55 times faster than tropical rain forests.

Freshwater is rare. Wetlands provide most of it.

2.5% of water on earth is freshwater, mostly stored in glaciers and aquifers.
Less than 1% is usable, and 30% comes from wetlands such as rivers and lakes.

Wetlands help us cope with storms and flooding.

60% of humanity lives and works in coastal areas. Saltmarshes, mangroves, seagrass beds and coral reefs shield coastal communities.
Inland, a single acre of wetland can absorb up to 1.5 million gallons of floodwater.

Wetlands feed 3.5 billion and give livelihoods to 1 billion.

More than a billion people live from fishing, aquaculture and tourism.
Wetland paddies provide rice for 3.5 billion people.

What's the Problem?

Wetlands are the Earth’s most threatened ecosystem and we’re losing them three times faster than forests. More than 80% of all wetlands have disappeared since the 1700s. In fact, this trend is accelerating as at least 35% of wetlands have been lost since 1970 .

Which human activities are driving this degradation? Wetlands are being drained and filled in for crops, grazing and construction. Water pollution and overfishing are harming wetland ecosystems, along with invasive species.

Want to play a part in restoring mangroves on World Wetlands Day, while also creating livelihoods for communities-in-need?

Purpose on the Planet is an approved 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

The Re Write Our Story program is also recognized on the UN website as a 2030 SDG Acceleration Action.