Wetlands and Land-Use

Wetlands Cape May New Jersey, wikimedia, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Digital Visual Library

“39. The replacement of virgin forest with plantations of trees, usually monocultures, is rarely adequately analyzed. Yet this can seriously compromise a biodiversity which the new species being introduced does not accommodate. Similarly, wetlands converted into cultivated land lose the enormous biodiversity which they formerly hosted.”

--His Holiness Pope Francis I, Laudato Si, par. 39

The quote above from Laudato Si' references two major issues related to land-use, management, and landscape design. One issue addressed is large-scale monoculture planting practices that replace biologically diverse ecosystems. Another, related issue deals with land-use decisions about where to locate specific activities, such as cultivation, and the reasoning behind this location. Specifically, in this paragraph from Laudato Si', Pope Francis refers to the topic of wetlands being converted into cultivated land.

Wetlands are incredibly important to the health of ecosystems. They can trap floodwaters, recharge groundwater supplies, remove pollution, and provide habitat for a diverse array of species. Wetlands are important for fishing, hunting, agriculture and recreation (EPA). The existence of only a fraction of wetlands has been recognized. Unless a property has been properly analyzed before construction or changes in maintenance occur, these biologically precious areas often remain unrecognized and vulnerable to degradation.

The existence of a wetland is often less apparent than the marshy photo above. Sometimes a wetland is only seasonally saturated. When this is the case, a wetland may become apparent only by the detection of plants in the area that can tolerate high water saturation in the soils. The soils in these areas will show evidence that they have developed in anaerobic conditions (these soils are often called “hydric soils.”)

Why does recognizing wetlands matter? More specifically, why is it a potential problem if you choose to cultivate crops in a wetland? Depending on the crop, the crops may not be very tolerant of the natural conditions – consequently, remediation of the land towards the goal of crop growth may be necessary, and this will require additional energy input. Additionally, the UN’s FAO has determined that environmental degradation is more prominent within wetland systems than any other ecosystem on Earth. That means that the species that need wetlands to survive are losing these vital places, putting them at risk for extinction faster than is the case for many species that rely on other ecosystems. In fact, wetlands are incredible reservoirs of biodiversity, and their degradation contributes enormously to the serious problem of loss of species. Pope Francis says “Because of us, thousands of species will no longer give glory to God by their very existence, nor convey their message to us. We have no such right.” If we are to protect many of the species that rely on wetlands for their existence and to allow wetlands to continue to provide the innumerable ecosystems services that they provide to the world and all its people, well beyond the geographic boundaries of wetlands, we must ensure that they are recognized and protected in landscapes.


by Molly Burhans
www.goodlandproject.org