Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT)

Adequate, good quality food is a prerequisite for healthy people.

Wetlands are a key source of natural food. They supply us with fish and shellfish and many plants.

Other wetland plants, such as seaweeds, although not harvested on the same scale as fish, are still an important source of food for many people.

Indirectly, wetland plants often play a vital role as a food for livestock on which the health of billions of people depends.

Well-managed wetlands will continue to provide food to keep us healthy - but there are many things humans do that affect wetlands and their ability to provide for us.

Pollution, excessive water abstraction, poor sanitation, over-harvesting and, of course, wetland destruction, all reduce or destroy the capacity of wetlands to provide food for human consumption.

WWT in action

WWT centres Slimbridge, Welney and Martin Mere depend on livestock to graze and maintain the ecological interest of their reserves. These livestock provide food for humans, either directly as meat products or indirectly as dairy products.

WWT centres Llanelli and Castle Espie are on coastal estuarine areas which support important shell fisheries or nursery grounds for fish.

WWT are working with local communities at Koshi Tappu in Nepal to improve the management of wetlands in a buffer zone around a Ramsar site in order to increase fish production for both human consumption and for selling as a source of income.

Key facts

• Each day, 25,000 people die of hunger.
• Between 300 and 400 million people worldwide live close to and depend on wetlands.
• Rice provides 20% of the world's dietary energy supply. This is predominantly grown in wetlands.
• One billion people rely on fish as their main or sole source of protein and many more consume fish regularly.
• Two-fifths of fish species come from freshwater habitats. There is one species to 15 km3 of freshwater, as compared to one species to 100,000 km3 of seawater.
• Wetland-related fisheries make an important contribution to local and national economies. It is estimated that capture fisheries dependent on coastal wetlands alone contribute US$34million to gross annual world product.
• In Malawi 70 to 75% of the total animal protein consumed by the population comes from fisheries associated with inland wetlands.