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Healthy wetlands, healthy people
The health and well-being of people is intricately linked to the state of their environment. For example, their exposure to water-borne diseases is reduced if they have a good, clean water supply - whether from taps or directly from rivers. There are many such benefits, or ecosystem services, that nature provides that are essential to human health and well-being. But to be able to provide these services, ecosystems need to be kept in a healthy condition. As an ecosystem becomes degraded, or less healthy, the services it supplies are usually reduced. Ecosystem services operate on such a vast scale and in such complex ways that most cannot be replaced by human technology. The health and well-being of people therefore depends on maintaining healthy ecosystems.
Wetlands are complex, fascinating and dynamic. They are hardworking ecosystems that provide us with a range of benefits, including some that are not immediately apparent. The National Wetland Inventory has mapped over 120,000 wetlands, ranging greatly in size and value and accounting for about 7% of South Africa’s surface area. Different wetland types supply different ecosystem services including flood attenuation, provision of clean water, and carbon storage. Commonly referred to as marshes, swamps, bogs or vlei’s, they support a range of specialised plant, insect, bird and mammal life and also supply wild food, grazing, building and craft materials to people.
In providing these ecosystem services, healthy wetlands play an important role in keeping people healthy. If we protect healthy wetlands to keep them in a good condition, and rehabilitate those that have been degraded, we can avoid much suffering due to droughts, floods and compromised livelihoods, especially for the most vulnerable members of society.
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