Wetland functions
Wetland ecosystems are ecologically and functionally significant elements of the water environment and have an important role to play in helping achieving sustainable river basin management by mitigating the effect of pollution, droughts and floods and by promoting groundwater recharge.
The ability of wetlands to achieve multifunctional objectives needs to be promoted in river basin management planning by:
- Inclusion of wetlands in water management strategies and plans, taking into account their ability to deliver multiple environmental gains
- Definition of overarching wetland protection and restoration strategies that are legally binding.
Guidance
'The Economic Values of the Worlds Wetlands' is a report produced by WWF which presents an overview of initial economic values of the world's wetlands. The basis for this study is the database of global wetland economic values as developed by the Institute for Environmental Studies in Amsterdam. The report includes 89 economic valuation studies which are presented to clarify for policy makers that wetlands are economically viable biomes that provide goods and services upon which many communities and economies depend. See the report on the WWF International web site.