Typically, rural communities and those who live on the outskirts of urban areas have a close relationship with wetlands. Lakes, floodplains, marshes and rivers are all examples that are generally productive water rich environments. These are important to local economies as they help meet day-to-day food, water and sanitation needs. They also support community resilience in the face of a changing environment.
Water is life and healthy wetlands provide basic necessities and support livelihoods. Using wetlands wisely is essential for delivering water security solutions and sustainable water management.
However, infrastructure development, over-extraction and improper waste disposal systems can create problems of water scarcity and pollution. Demand is growing, and competition for human consumption, food and energy production is one of the biggest global challenges while the resource grows scarce annually.
The degradation and loss of wetlands is occurring at an alarming rate resulting in communities trapped in poverty, vulnerable to disaster and suffering the consequences of water insecurity including poor health, limited livelihood options and confined in conflict situations.
We protect, restore and demonstrate the cost-effectiveness of sustainable wetlands management at the local level as well as influence planning at larger landscape scales.