Waterlogged Wealth: Why waste the world's wet places?

Don't drain the swamp!

Man's traditional response to swamps, marshes and bogs has been to drain them.

But wetlands are not wastelands. Coastal marshes are among the world's most productive ecosystems. They make many commercial fisheries possible and protect coasts from floods and storm surges. Wetlands are pollution filters, water reservoirs. They are among the last wild places on earth, offering homes to endangered plants, birds and animals.

Attitudes to wetlands are changing, but not fast en...