World Wetlands Day 2014: Wetlands and agriculture
Wetlands and farming are being celebrated around the world today (2 February).
It is the theme for this year’s World Wetlands Day, celebrated every year to mark the signing of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands – the only international treaty based on an ecosystem.
Farming developed around wetland systems on river floodplains around 6,000BC. It’s often seen as the ‘dawn of civilisation’ and the link between farming and wetlands is still as strong as ever.
- Wetland treatment systems in farms prevent rain washing fertiliser and nutrients off the land. It reduces clear-up costs for farmers and protects sensitive streams and rivers from algal blooms. WWT has built dozens of wetland treatment systems nationwide including at Powhillion Farm, which neighbours WWT Caerlaverock Wetland Centre
- Livestock farming helps WWT manage many areas of their wetland reserves. Cattle graze the washes at WWT Welney and the wet grasslands of WWT Slimbridge and even WWT London Wetland Centre in the centre of the capital uses rare breed Hebridean sheep to ‘mow’ islands on their lagoon so they are good for breeding water birds.
- Traditional farming practices keep the reserves in good condition. Reeds are cut on rotation to prevent reed beds from becoming too wooded and the cut reeds are used to make screens around the Wetland Centres.
Modern farming may have been bad news for many bird species, but some waterbirds such as whooper swans and pink-footed geese thrive on winter crops.- Farmers are aiding the return of one of the UK’s largest wetland birds, the common crane. Over the last four years Somerset farmers have helped newly released young cranes through cold winters, and are now creating wetlands for the maturing cranes to breed.
WWT Chief Executive Martin Spray said:
“WWT ‘s principle is that wetland conservation works well if it helps people as well as wildlife, and it is often by working with farmers that we get these great win-wins.
“Farming is absolutely central to wetland conservation in the UK so this World Wetlands Day our thoughts are with all those farmers suffering flooding in Somerset and elsewhere.”
All nine WWT Wetland Centres are open this World Wetlands Day, with the usual range of regular activities and a few special events. For instance, the Festival of Birds is being held all weekend at WWT Slimbridge in Gloucestershire, and WWT Welney in Norfolk is running a wetland bioblitz from 10am to 8pm on Sunday.
