World Wetland Day: Celebrating our wild wetlands

 

Farlington Marshes NNR

February 2^nd each year, marks World Wetlands Day, a time to appreciate and celebrate the vital function these landscapes play not just ecologically but also economically. Covering around 6% of the Earth's surface, wetlands store a disproportionate amount of global terrestrial carbon at c35%. With the growing climate crisis, this makes these habitats critical in mitigating some of the disastrous effects humans have wrought through our addiction to oil. In an increasingly human shaped world, wetlands remain pockets of resilience, filtering heavy metals and other contaminants from water, absorbing carbon, mitigating floods and sheltering an astonishing array of wildlife. The UK’s wetlands, from vast muddy estuaries to tucked-away marshes with whispering reedbeds, are teeming with life, and thanks to conservation efforts, some of our most iconic species are making a comeback.

The Return of Lost Voices

Once rejected as wastelands and drained for more practical uses, our wetlands are now proving their worth as strongholds for returning species. The evocative boom of the bittern, a species that, in the 1870s, was declared extinct in the UK due to habitat destruction and hunting, now echoes across reedbeds where conservationists have worked tirelessly to restore their habitat. 1997 saw only 11 males recorded in Britain, but due to extensive habitat management, their population has risen to over 200 calling males by 2020. A real ‘Boom’!

The spectral form of a great white egret, a large heron species, once confined to the Continent, is now a common sight in the wetlands of Somerset and East Anglia and is expanding its range year on year. The first recorded breeding in the UK occurred in 2012 in the Avalon Marshes, and their numbers have since expanded steadily. Even the majestic white-tailed eagle, a bird that once soared over our coasts before being hunted to extinction in Britain by the early 20th century, has found its way back to our shores. A reintroduction programme began in Scotland in the 1970s and was followed by releases on the Isle of Wight in 2019, with the birds now carving out new territories and breeding successfully.

And then there’s the common crane, a bird that vanished from our landscape over 400 years ago due to wetland drainage and hunting. A reintroduction programme sought to bring them back, WWT (Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust) and the Pensthorpe Conservation Trust, devised the Great Crane Project, to reintroduce cranes to the Somerset Levels, but incredibly a small pioneer population, thought to be from German or Dutch origin, stole a march and slowly started colonising [the fens of East Anglia. Between the pioneers and the reintroduced birds, their numbers have now exceeded 200 individuals in the UK! They are back, stalking through our wetlands with a grace that harks back to a bygone era. Their bugling calls ring out across the Somerset Levels, the Broads and the fens, a sound that has been missing for centuries.

A New Wave of Colonisers

Little Egret

Some species are writing their own comeback stories, arriving under their own steam due to changing climate conditions and improved habitat quality. Spoonbills, once a rare visitor to the UK, now breed in colonies, particularly in Norfolk, Suffolk and Kent, where protected wetlands have provided ideal conditions. Their distinctive spatula-shaped bills sift through the shallows in search of fish and crustaceans. Delightfully their young are known affectionately as teaspoons, a name that endears them to birders and non-birders from the outset!

Of the Egrets, Little Egret was the first to swell the ranks of our breeding heron species, in 1996, birds bred for the first time at sites in Cornwall and in Dorset, where the Littles dared, the Great whites have followed suit, their elegant profiles now a regular feature in wetland reserves. Their smaller cousins, the cattle egret, have also expanded their range across the country, first breeding in the UK in 2008. These birds, which were once considered a southern European species, have adapted to our shifting climate and are thriving.

Beavers: The Keystone Architects

No species symbolises wetland restoration quite like the European beaver. Hunted to extinction in Britain by the 1600s for their fur and castoreum, an oil produced by beavers from special glands and used by humans in scents and flavourings. For the last decade or so, these ecosystem engineers have once again been shaping our landscapes with their ability to create wetlands through constructing dams and slowing the flow of water. In doing so they are also reducing flood risk downstream and improving water retention during droughts. Studies from the River Otter Beaver Trial in Devon have shown that beaver-modified landscapes store more water, reduce peak flood levels by up to 30%, and improve biodiversity by creating habitats for amphibians, fish and invertebrates.

Beaver dams help to filter pollutants, trapping sediments and improving water quality. In places like Scotland’s Knapdale Forest, beaver reintroduction has resulted in greater habitat complexity, supporting a wider variety of wildlife. In 2022, the government granted legal protection to beavers in England, recognising their role in habitat restoration and flood prevention.

The Lost and the Longed-For

Dalmatian Pelican

It’s impossible not to dream about what else could return if we continue to restore our country at a habitat level. Could the black stork, a rare vagrant to Britain, one day nest in our quiet wetlands? In 2022, a juvenile black stork spent weeks exploring various British wetlands, raising hopes of future colonisation. Could the Dalmatian pelican, a species known to have once inhabited prehistoric Britain, reclaim its place among our reedbeds? A study conducted in 2017 suggested that Britain’s wetlands could support a breeding population of these magnificent birds.

There is romance in the idea of these lost giants gracing our wetlands once more, but more importantly, there is ecological sense. Reintroducing these species could restore lost interactions within our ecosystems, enriching biodiversity and strengthening resilience against environmental changes. Every species that returns is a sign that we are moving in the right direction, that we are learning to work with nature rather than against it. However, reintroductions also gloss over some glaring issues. Habitat scale restoration is needed, not just vanity species, without large scale habitat restoration, all these projects are reduced to mere gimmicks. If we want to see the return of some of these iconic species and have them thrive as they colonise, connected and healthy ecosystems are paramount. The North Norfolk coastal partnership is a great example of interconnectivity, as is the Avalon Marshes in Somerset! Isolation and nature do not go hand in hand, everything is connected and that is the same for habitats.

A Future Worth Fighting For

World Wetlands Day is more than just a date in the calendar. It’s a reminder that these landscapes are worth fighting for. Wetlands cover just over 3% of the land area in the UK, yet they store significant amounts of carbon, act as natural flood defences and provide habitats for a vast array of species. From the salt marshes that buffer our coasts against storm surges to the floodplains that hold back rising waters, wetlands are our natural allies in the fight against climate change and biodiversity loss.

However, wetlands remain under threat. The UK has lost approximately 90% of its wetlands since Roman times, with drainage for agriculture, urbanisation and infrastructure development taking a devastating toll. Their future, and the future of the species that depend on them, is in our hands.

This is not just about conservation. It is about restoration, about rewilding, about rewriting the story of our landscapes. And in that story, wetlands are not just survivors. They are the beating heart of a wilder, richer Britain.