Protecting Wetlands for Our Common Future

Value. Protect. Inspire

As we celebrate World Wetlands Day 2025, let us reflect on the significance of this year’s theme ‘Protecting Wetlands for Our Common Future.’  So, what are wetlands and why should we protect them? Defined by the Convention of Wetlands of International Importance, commonly known as the Ramsar Convention (signed in 1971 in Ramsar, Iran), wetlands are

“areas of marsh, fen, peatland or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water, the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six meters”

This definition is inclusive and encompasses a range of wetland types. The wetland types found in Trinidad and Tobago include the following:-

Marine– Coral reefs, seagrass beds, intertidal mudflats, sand flats, coastal lagoon, hypersaline ponds, salt marshes, and mangrove swamp

Freshwater– Rivers, streams, annual floodplain, swamp forest, freshwater marsh, wetlands inliers, reservoirs, dams, and ponds

Man-made– Rice paddies, wet pasture, aquaculture ponds, sewage treatment ponds

Highly interconnected and biodiverse, wetlands link mountains to oceans, span national borders, connect different habitats and facilitate the movement of species. Water is the primary factor controlling the environment, and plant and animal life within these ecosystems (www.ramsar.org).  

For thousands of years, people have established settlements near wetlands for access to fish, other foods and freshwater. Today, wetlands remain central to food security contributing to human well-being including poverty alleviation and environmental health.  More than half of the world relies on wetland-grown produce for their staple diet, and more than 1 billion people worldwide rely on fish from wetlands as their primary source of protein.  About 1 in 8 people (more than 1 billion worldwide) make their livelihoods from wetlands in ways that also deliver food, water supplies, transport and leisure (www.ramsar.org).  This is especially true for the rural poor, who comprise three-quarters of all poor households worldwide. Wetlands are a primary source of rural income, and they can become vitally important when other sources of income fail. For Trinidad and Tobago, this includes crab catchers, oyster harvesters, fishers and tour guides. 

Healthy wetlands help us cope with extreme weather events. The frequency of disasters worldwide has more than doubled in just 35 years, driven by climate and weather-related hazards like flooding, hurricane and droughts.  Climate change is already having a significant impact on Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in the Caribbean which is unlikely to abate. Tropical storms, believed to be more frequent and strong as sea temperature increases due to climate change, severely affect economic development and can generate significant losses and damages. 

Mangroves can be an important defence against these impacts as they are able to colonise landward areas if space is available, and thus continue to provide coastal defence services against waves and storms; typically wave height is reduced 13-66% per 100m of mangrove. Coral reefs act as offshore wave barriers. Their protection from extreme events is estimated to be worth up to US $33,556.00 per hectare every year. 

In addition to providing coastal protection, coastal wetlands, particularly tidal marshes, seagrass beds and mangrove forests, sequester and store carbon, a greenhouse gas, within their biomass and soils. Commonly referred to as coastal “blue carbon” ecosystems because of their relevance to the global carbon cycle, these ecosystems provide climate mitigation benefits.  For instance, mangrove forests have the highest area rates of carbon capture and storage compared with any other ecosystem, terrestrial or marine, contributing disproportionately as a carbon sink, if left undisturbed. According to a 2012 paper written by D. Alongi titled, ‘Carbon Sequestration in Mangrove Forests,’ on average, mangroves have a mean whole-ecosystem carbon stock around 2.5–5 times higher than the mean ecosystem carbon stock found in temperate, boreal and upland tropical forests.