Wetlands

ISSUES

The tropical regions of South America comprise 415 million hectares of wetland, followed by Europe (258 million), North America (242 million), Asia (204 million), Africa (121 to 125 million) and Oceania (36 million). One of the best known examples of wetland destruction is that of the Aral Sea (Kazakhstan, Ouzbekistan) which has lost 75% of its surface area since the 1960s, as the water supply was redirected for irrigation. The Mesopotamia marshland, between the Tigris and Euphrates, in southern Iraq, met the same fate, notably for political reasons, going from around 20,000 km2 in the 1950s to 400 km2 today. In Africa, climate change, the demand for water for irrigation and poor management decisions in the basin reduced the size of Lake Chad, which is shared by Cameroon, Nigeria, Niger and Chad, by 90% in 40 years. For 20 million people, essentially the fishermen and farmers and their families who depend directly on the lake, malnut...

NEWS

Sorry, most of the news are only available in French language for the moment.

FRANCE - PARIS - La tempête Xynthia a remis un coup de projecteur sur les règles de construction dans les zones inondables où...

INDIA - Except 2008, the Keoladeo national park in Rajasthan has been receiving little or no water for the past six years. A...

UGANDA has lost 30% of its wetlands in the last 15 years, according to the Wetlands Commissioner Paul Mafabi.

Univers GoodPlanet par Netvibes

DEBATES

Natural Protected Areas in France, An Effective Approach to Slow the Impact of Human Development on the Land

Antoine Lévêque

Protected areas with very little human development, little agriculture and that are rich in wetlands.Compared to the rest of the...

Restoration of Wetlands Key to Reducing Future Threats of Avian Flu

Investments in ‘Ecosystem’ Health Likely to Pay Dividends...

We can't hold back the water any more

LAST winter's floods on the rivers of central Europe were...

FOCUS

-Wetland

For a long time, they were regarded by mankind as sterile, unhealthy, even dangerous places. Now, however, it is understood that wetlands are home to amazing ecosystems and a biological diversity that is almost beyond compare. Whether they take the form of salt marshes,...

VIDEOS

17/02/2010	Film of Wetlands International on peatland loss, CO2 emission, and how to...	28/11/2009	La population indonésienne qui tire ses ressources de la mer et du...
12/10/2009	Dans le nord du Burkina-Faso, une région où s’étend le Sahel, la mare...	05/03/2009	Pour préserver un écotope et la biodiversité qu'il abrite, il faut parfois...

GREEN TIPS

Multifunction nature park

The "Parc du Chemin de l'île", a park created by the city of Nanterre is not just used as a place to relax....

INDICATORS

Biocapacity
National biodiversity index
Threatened ecosystems
Protected areas

CHECK OUT THE STATE OF THE WORLD ON OUR 3D GLOBE