Wetlands

This is a picture of a wetland. Wetlands are the most threatened

part of nature at the moment. Many have been damaged 

or removed by humans for various reasons. 

What are Wetlands? Wetlands include and body of land with a marsh or swamp, or in other words saturated. It is an area where water either covers the soil or where water is present in the soil throughout the year. This is largely determined by what type of life there is in the environment including plants, animals, and insects. Wetlands also depend on other factors such as topography, climate, water chemistry, vegetation, and human disturbances. Wetlands are most common in the northern and midwestern parts of the United States as well as Alaska. Some wetlands even dry up for parts of the year and becomes habitats for other animals and vegetation during the off-season. 

What is the importance of wetlands? Wetlands are important to our environment because they provide earth and it inhabitants with economic, social, and cultural benefits that many of us fail to realize. Economically, wetlands provide opportunities for fishing, timber, and give tourists activities to try. Wetlands help reduce the impact of storm damage by giving water a place to go if flooding occurs. They also maintain water quality for rivers, recharge groundwater, store carbon, and help stabilize climate control and control pests. Wetlands have a lot to offer us and we are not doing our part to sustain them. Without wetlands we will loose vegetation, animals, and many other issues will arise. They help with irrigation on farms and provide water for livestock and domestic use. Wetlands filter out pollutants and absorb nutrients that would otherwise result in poor quality downstream. 

What is RAMSAR? RAMSAR convention, also called the convention of wetlands, is a treaty that provides national action and international cooperation for the conservation and the wise use of wetlands and their resources. There are currently 2,216 RAMSAR sites. 

What is RAMSAR in Ohio? In the state of Ohio, the RAMSAR site located in Columbus is called the Wilma H. Schiermeier Olentangy River Wetland Research Park (ORWRP). Wetlands include freshwater, tree dominated wetlands, permanent rivers streams and creeks, seasonal and intermittent wetlands, and permanent freshwater marshes. It has a unique combination of biologically diverse habitats, it provides high quality education of students at The Ohio State University, and significant wetland eco-tourism and outreach for an urban community where few wetlands remain. Since its development it has supported over 160 bird species, diverse fish and invertebrate species, and a variety of mammals, amphibians and reptiles as well as over 1.6 million people in its surrounding urban region. The ORWRP is one of only two research facilities of its kind in the United States.

What country did not sign on to RAMSAR? Although the list of countries that have signed on to RAMSAR is very large, I did find out that Uruguay just signed on to the treaty as of this year. There is no direct information on what country has not yet signed on to the treaty if there are any. It looks like RAMSAR has already had an impact on its participating countries. Although this treaty is widespread, many countries only has one specific facility or area for wetland protection.