Following on from lecturing about biodiversity and climate change, the Royal Geographic Society magazine Geographical (April 2014) 37-43 includes a special feature on wetlands “Hung out to dry” that emphasises the importance of wetlands as one of the key global tools in mitigating climate change. The article notes the impact of continued wetland loss:
Wetlands are also rich sources for in-demand commodities, such as palm oil and pulpwood. Peatlands – wetlands with a waterlogged organic soil layer – are particularly targeted. These peatlands include vast permafrost areas of Russia and Canada, the Everglades in the USA, and the high mountain peatlands of the Andes (Paramos) and Himalaya. When peatlands are drained for cultivation, they become net carbon emitters instead of active carbon stores, and, according to Marcel Silvius, head of climate-smart land-use at WI, this practice causes six per cent of all global carbon emissions.
The key international protocol for protecting wetlands is the Ramsar Convention 1971. To date the United Kingdom has designated the most (169) Ramsar sites, and Bolivia, Canada and Chad have achieved the greatest extent of designated areas with respectively 14.8 million hectares, 13 million hectares and 12.4 million hectares. There are 6 designated sites in New Zealand covering 55,112 hectares, including 3 sites in the Waikato region – Whangamarino, Kopuatai Peat Dome, and Firth of Thames.
The article makes sobering reading following the release of the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report on 31 March.