Why Wetlands?

Calculations have indicated that the nutrient leakage from arable land was more or less the same 150 years ago as it is today. Why then, is eutrophication of the sea and algal blooms recent problems? This is where the wetlands play an important part. They function as natural treatment plants and remove nutrients from the water, leading to a reduced nutrient load to the sea. Wetlands are nutrient traps. Since a majority of the wetlands has been drained the last century, the function of wetlands as “nutrient removers” has more or less disappeared. *

Apart from an increased transport of nutrients to the sea and eutrophication problems, the loss of wetlands has also led to a loss of biodiversity in the agricultural landscapes. A large number of plants and animals are dependent on wetlands, and when wetlands are drained the organisms inhabiting the wetland will also disappear.

Other ecosystem functions of wetlands are for example, irrigation, flood prevention, recreation, hunting and fishing opportunities.

Today, some of the wetlands are re-created in order to mitigate the effects of previous drainage.