The term ‘wetland’ covers a wide range of ecosystem types. They include floodplains, peatlands, deltas, estuaries and coastal margins. Wetlands can be found in every major climatic zone and these diverse landscapes currently cover less than 9% of the Earth’s land surface. Some estimates put the figure at closer to 6%.
In the last 40 years the image of wetlands has changed. Until the late twentieth century, they tended to be thought of as worthless wastelands, only fit for ‘reclamation’ or ‘improvement’. They were destroyed by drainage, dredging or infilling. As much as half of the global area of wetlands may have been lost in these ways over the course of history.
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