It is reported that some 700 scientists are attending a major conference in Brazil for the purpose of drawing up an action plan to protect the world’s wetlands. Conference organisers say a better understanding of how to manage the vital ecosystems is urgently needed. The conference has been called due to concern over rising temperatures, which are not only accelerating evaporation rates, but also reducing rainfall levels and the volume of melt water from glaciers.

Although only covering 6% of the Earth’s land surface, they store up to around 20% of terrestrial carbon.

The five-day conference, which is co-organised by the UN University and Brazil’s Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, will examine the links between wetlands and climate change.

Conference co-chairman Paulo Teixeira says: “Humanity in many parts of the world needs a wake-up call to fully appreciate the vital environmental, social and economic services wetlands provide. These included absorbing and holding carbon, regulating water levels and supporting biodiversity.

Meanwhile Konrad Osterwalder, who is the rector of the UN University, said that people in the past had viewed the habitats as a problem, which led to many being drained. he added: “Yet wetlands are essential to the planet’s health,” he explained. “With hindsight, the problems in reality have turned out to be the draining of wetlands and other ’solutions’ we humans devised”.

The conference follows a growing number of scientists warning that if the decline of the world’s wetlands continues, it could result in vast amounts of carbon being released into the atmosphere and compounding the global warming problem significantly. Critically, It is estimated that drained tropical swamp forests release 40 tonnes of carbon per hectare each year, while drained peat bogs emit between 2.5 to 10 tonnes. Yet data suggests that about 60% of wetlands have been destroyed in the past century, primarily as a result of drainage for agriculture.

It therefore makes sense to reduce the stress on wetlands caused by pollution and other human activity, as this will improve their resilience and effectiveness as “carbon sinks”. Wetlands should be considered “natural sponges” and their role as sources, reservoirs and regulators of water is largely under appreciated. In addition they also cleanse water of organic pollutants, prevent downstream flood inundations, protect river banks and seashores from erosion, recycle nutrients and capture sediment.

The conference organisers claim the ecosystems, many of which have biodiversity that rivals rainforests and coral reefs, were in need of complex long-term management plans. They hope, as one conference objective, to highlight the range of measures needed, such as agreements that covered the entire catchments of the wetlands.