THE WORLD CONFERENCE ON ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION

16 Plenary Sessions
Conservation, restoration and creation of wetlands: A
global perspective
William J. Mitsch
Olentangy River Wetland Research Park. Ohio State University. Columbus. Ohio. USA
Wetlands, rivers, and watersheds are being created restored around the world,
often in urban areas or arid climates. There are major disadvantages of urban
wetlands that include the difficulty to accommodate nature in areas where
many humans are present, the perception that wetlands harbor threats to
human health and comfort, and the inability to modify hydrology without significant
infrastructure. The disadvantages of wetland restoration in arid climates
are the lack of sufficient water and salinity problems. These disadvantages
are balanced with the potential values that these wetlands potentially
have to large populations. In arid climates, wetlands can be the very essence of
sustaining life and culture. Wetland values accrue when there is a human population
to receive those values. In that sense, wetland and watershed restoration
could actually be more valuable in urban and arid settings than in humid
non-urban regions where they are found in more abundance. Examples of
urban wetland restoration in the USA and arid wetland restoration and conservation
in the Mesopotamian Marshlands in Iraq and Okavengo Delta in
Botswana will be presented.