What are wetlands?

Emma Chaplin
, 28 January 2024
What are wetlands?
Redshank © Roger Wilmshurst

Wetlands are enormously important. They help provide clean water, flood protection, provide food, capture carbon, promote biodiversity and provide an environment for quiet relaxation.

So what exactly are wetlands?

They are naturally low lying or water-fed areas of land which help store and filter huge amounts of water. In doing so, they enable wildlife to better cope with climate change.

Rye HarbourBarry YatesSussex Wildlife Trust


For many years, Sussex Wildlife Trust has been working hard at improving the wetlands at Rye Harbour Nature Reserve, an internationally important Ramsar wetland site, and this has resulted in a positive impact on bird numbers and species diversity.

Note: The Ramsar Convention is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands, named ‘Ramsar’ after the Iranian city where the treaty was signed in 1971

More about World Wetlands Day

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