Promoting Wetland Conservation

Wetlands are an essential component of coastal and fresh waterways. Coastal wetlands include coral reefs, sea grass beds, estuaries, mudflats, and mangroves while freshwater wetlands include lakes, swamps, marshes, peat lands, river basins, reservoirs, and dams. The list below outlines key functions of wetlands.
Flood Control and Sediment Retention- Flood plains are a natural part of coastal and freshwater landscapes. They are in place to serve as buffers to powerful ocean waves and currents. Unfortunately, flood plains are being destroyed by excessive and unsustainable agricultural and human development. Conservation efforts must be put forth to create awareness about this vital role of wetlands in nature.
Groundwater Retention and Water Purification - Areas of wetlands retain and recharge groundwater down to the aquifers. It is said that underground aquifers store 97% of the world's unfrozen freshwater and they provide drinking water to almost a third of the world's population. Native flora in wetlands also fulfill a vital role in nature. These plants help purify water coming from human settlements and cities by removing levels of phosphorous and nitrogen commonly associated with agricultural run-off. This further prevents eutrophication, which leads to an imbalance of the species and rapid growth of plant and algae in oceans.
Nutrient Retention and Reservoir of Biodiversity - It is said that wetlands in general are home to a great diversity of species. Although freshwater wetlands cover only 1% of the Earth's surface, they hold more than 40% of the world's species and 12% of all animal species. Coral reefs on the other hand, cover 0.2% of the ocean floor but may contain 25% of all marine species. In terms of nutrient retention, wetlands block the powerful current of water inland, depositing and forming a bed of nutrient-rich sediments. These nutrient rich-beds become a habitat and source of food for a diverse number of plant and animal species.
These are just some of the important functions of wetlands in coastal and freshwater areas. Much more needs to be done in terms of promoting awareness and conservation for them. Promoting such cause can prove to be challenging given a limited marketing budget. One affordable and now environmentally-friendly way to promote them is through printed materials such as flyers, brochures, booklets, pocket folders, souvenir bookmarks, posters, or calendars. Commercial printers like UPrinting for example; use natural, soy and vegetable based inks, recycles printed paper and prints on papers certified by the Sustainable Forest Initiative and the Forest Stewardship Council.

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