Its sponge-like quality allows water to be returned to the ground during dry periods. Many different wild animals and plants live there. Wetlands help to slow down the flow of water and prevent floods. They provide open spaces and improve the value of property. Pollutants and nutrients are filtered (stay behind), then clean water runs through wetlands, improving water quality.
Threats to wetlands
Wetlands have been reduced or destroyed to build houses and cities for human use, as the world population increases. Wetlands are used in agriculture, to plant rice and catch fish, disturbing and overusing the resources in it.
Dumping pollutants can have devastating effects on the water quality and the organisms that depend on it. Building huge dams have stopped or reduced the flow of river water into wetlands, which may lead to the extinction of many aquatic species. Even smaller dams may reduce the flow of water into wetlands. Large amounts of pollutants have damaged wetlands and organisms that depend on it.
