Wetlands are vitally important for many things – some may be familiar, like habitat for wading birds, but some might be less familiar, like carbon capture. There are areas of specific kind of wetland, created by layers of plants which sink under the water when they die, trapping carbon safely away from the atmosphere. Peatlands cover much less area but store more carbon than all the world’s forests. However, when the peat warms and dries, soil microbes which react that carbon with oxygen become active, and peat starts to emit carbon rather than absorb it. People often drain peat to grow crops because it’s fertile, but this brings inactive carbon back into the cycle and into the atmosphere. But we can reverse some of this by wetting the soil again and leaving that carbon safely where it belongs – in the soil, rather than the sky.

Natural wetlands provide flood protection by slowing down and storing flood flows. The use of these natural protections is termed ‘Natural Flood Management’, and can involve anything from small-scale features that mimic nature (like ‘leaky dams’ or flood storage ponds, which hold back water in high flows and allow it to drain through later.

Wetlands protect us from extreme weather events and help us recover better from disasters. By storing rain like a sponge, and by buffering us from the sea they can protect us from floods, tsunamis and cyclones. 

Wetlands remove nutrients, pesticides and sediment from agricultural runoff and filtering pollutants from industrial and road runoff in urban areas. Wetlands do this to help clean our water and restore biodiversity in the wider ecosystem. The improved water quality attracts a wide range of wildlife, as well as providing cleaner water for people too.

Water supplies such as reservoirs can create great habitats as well as enabling us to supply people and rivers during summer, keep water within landscapes for longer and keep land wetter for longer so that farmers can grow throughout the summer. A great example of this is our large wetland reserve Witches Oak Water. It was primarily created as a storage and water pumping facility in times of severe drought for Severn Trent Water. A strong wetland habitat creation theme was linked to it and the site now contains a range of habitats including 12 lakes!

Fires that have got out of control are becoming more common with dryer summers and there is a huge impact on the environment due to amount of carbon released. Wetlands can act as a natural barrier to the spread of fires, regulating the frequency and severity of fire events.