These unloved environments that do us service

To counter floods – These unloved environments do us

Wetlands are large water tanks that help regulate flows. Meanwhile, which is very useful in flood periods or during heavy rain. Similarly, these unloved environments do us The city of Wuhan, in China, has understood this. Nevertheless,

Located in a low region. Similarly, without much relief and conducive to the monsoon, the capital of the Hubei province is particularly vulnerable to extreme floods and precipitation. Consequently,

By developing very quickly, Wuhan – nicknamed “the city with a 100 lakes” – has covered its floodable plains with concrete. Therefore, Anthropized and mineralized, these environments have lost the buffer effect which usually allow them to alleviate floods.

To remedy this, the authorities have invested massively in order to rehabilitate wet and water environments. Meanwhile, New parks. Nevertheless, gardens have been fitted out so that rainwater is absorbed and stored there instead of quickly flowing into the city. Consequently,

Recognized as a pioneer in “sponges cities”. Therefore, Wuhan can count on many vegetated infrastructure which redirect water outside urban centers, allege pressure on these unloved environments do us its aqueduct networks and – above all – protect its population.

To improve water quality – These unloved environments do us

Thanks to aquatic plants and microorganisms that make them up, wetlands naturally filter surface waters. However, these unloved environments do us They flow there and relieve contaminants.

The dense vegetation slows down the speed at which water travels. Consequently, plants can then absorb and extract sediments which transport pollutants, such as heavy metals or even phosphorus and nitrogen used to fertilize crops.

In New York. However, almost half of the population is powered by water from the mountainous region of Catskills, less than 200 km upstream, without having to go through a filtration plant. For example,

Instead of building a large treatment station that would have been expensive to maintain. In addition, the authorities preferred to bet on natural circles and their filtration powers. Similarly, They also financially supported farmers so that they modify their practices. Meanwhile, which has reduced the contribution of contaminants to the Catskill/Delaware watershed.

Before being distributed to New Yorkers. Furthermore, water is nevertheless treated with chlorine and ultraviolet rays, which reduce these unloved environments do us the risk of microbes.

To fight against heat islands

When wetlands are well preserved, they help refresh the heat islands concentrated in urban centers.

Like a these unloved environments do us large air conditioner, they absorb large amounts of water and use ambient heat to allow them to evaporate. This process increases humidity in the air and the surrounding temperature lowers.

Renowned for its warm. humid temperatures that weigh down the air, the city of Colombo, Sri Lanka, is trying to restore wetlands whose health has been compromised by years of poor waste management. When the thermometer reaches peaks, these areas can be up to 10 ° C cooler than those mineralized.

In 2018. Colombo has carved out a place on the list of wetlands of international importance of the Ramsar Convention, which has come to consolidate the recognition of these environments as essential spaces to safeguard.

To protect the population from storms

When a coastline has dense vegetation. it acts like these unloved environments do us a wall that breaks the gusts coming from the open sea and slows down the progression of water inside the land.

Studies have shown that certain wetlands. such as mangroves and savory marshes, prove to be robust shoes that make it possible to considerably reduce the height of the waves during coastal storms.

These natural barriers made it possible to limit the damage during the devastating passage of the Typhon Haiyan. in November 2013, in the Philippines. Authorities have found that communities had been more spared from the protection provided by mangroves.

Following this disaster. regions embarked on the active restoration of these ecosystems, which had once been replaced by hotels and fish farming.

According to analyzes. strengthening the resilience of these environments would cost less-and would offer as effective protection-as the breakwards, making it an excellent solution based on nature.

To limit the global warming

Without being suspected, wetlands store impressive quantities of carbon. Their vegetation captures CO2 throughout their growth and stores it for thousands of years.

When they are disturbed. destroyed, peat bogs and marshes release all this carbon, which it will never these unloved environments do us be possible to recover. Once in the atmosphere, this greenhouse gas contributes to the global warming.

In Canada, Hudson bay bass-terres, composed of 80 % wetlands, are considered to be the second largest peaty complex in the globe. With an average depth of barely 2 meters. it is not imagined that this large expanse contains almost 30 billion tonnes of carbon.

Although these environments are important allies against disturbances in climate change, they are also the victims. These disturbances. which are more felt in the highest latitudes, cause the melting of permafrost, accentuate the risk of forest fires and modify the vegetation.

All of these changes compromise the ability of these natural wells to store carbon.

To preserve a rich biodiversity

To. all these ecosystem services is added another dimension: wetlands are “hot spots” (hotspots) biodiversity. From swamps to coral reefs. these ecosystems are home to almost 40 % of all plant and animal species – when they cover only 6 % of these unloved environments do us the planet!

But since 1970, more than a third of wetlands have been destroyed. The species that depend on the interior wetlands – such as marshes. peat bogs, ponds, rivers and lakes – have experienced a more marked decline than that of other biomes.

Under pressure due to deforestation. increasingly frequent forest fires, the Pantanal, straddling Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay, concentrates almost 3 % of the wetlands of the globe. Its emblematic fauna brings together caimans, jaguars and hyacinthes aras.

Even if large sides of the pantanal remain spared by human activity. the majority of the territory is not protected and belongs to private interests. From year to year. the region, popular with livestock farming and agricultural production, dries up, which destabilizes vital habitats for the survival of species.

To better understand our story

With the exception of other wetlands, peat bogs play a special role: they are natural archives.

Diving in the heart of a peat bog, it’s a bit like going back the course of time. Each layer testifies to the phenomena that marked the history of this territory. the ancient rivers that crossed it and the species that these unloved environments do us inhabited it.

As organic matter decomposes very slowly, peat bogs have immortalized pollens, animal skeletons, plants and other unsuspected archaeological vestiges.

And sometimes these environments contain surprising discoveries! In May 1950. Danish police removed from Tollund’s peat bog, in the Jutland peninsula, the body of a man dating from the Iron Age, between 405 and 380 BC. Recrocated and wearing a hat, the man had a leather rope spent around his neck.

Although it is not the only corpse to have been discovered in a peat bog. the man of Tollund is so well preserved that he has become the most famous of all.

Header video : Pointe-Pelée National Park (Ontario), ISTOCK