Fred Pearce - Water Lands

William Collins
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This eBook edition published by William Collins in 2020

Text Wetlands International 2020
Photographs individual copyright holders

Wetlands International asserts their moral right to be identified as the authors of this work.

Cover and interiors designed by David Griffin
Picture research by Caroline Cortizo at Shifting Pixels

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
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Source ISBN: 9780008390495
eBook Edition February 2020 ISBN: 9780008405120
Version: 2020-02-05

Managing land and water together is going to be key to reversing land degradation worldwide. Wetlands are critical for people and ecosystems. This has become crystal clear in dryland areas, such as around Lake Chad and the Aral Sea. The collapse of these wetland ecosystems has adversely affected the land, biological diversity and the well-being of the people. Water Lands presents a compelling and urgent call to action by all.

Ibrahim Thiaw

Executive Secretary, UN Convention to Combat Desertification

Water Lands is exceptional because it shines a light on the importance of understanding how water systems have shaped nature, cultures and economies. Through stories and evidence from wetlands the world over, Water Lands points out how these relationships have changed and how problems can be resolved by empowering local people as central players in harnessing water and nature to secure a more resilient future.

David Nabarro

Special Advisor to the United Nations Secretary General on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Climate Change

Wetlands are the vital organs of a living planet. They nurse life, stabilize the climate, and anchor the water cycle locally and globally. But, as Water Lands makes plain wetlands are precious beyond carbon storage or biodiversity improvement. The examples show us the possibility that we might reverse the destruction of wetlands and of ecosystems generally. That destruction is as old as civilization. Might we forge a different kind of civilization embodying reverence for soil and forests, animals and plants, water and land and the wetlands where they all meet?

Charles Eisenstein

Author and Speaker

Water Lands is a timely intervention and should stir people into action. In particular, to find more equitable ways of sharing water. Each chapter directs attention to the much-needed re-orientation between rapid economic development and long-term prosperity. Wetland communities, among other indigenous people and the ecosystems they depend on, need more support in conserving the environment for their long-term prosperity and peace.

Ikal Angelei

Director, Friends of Lake Turkana

WATER LANDS

W here water meets land, life abounds. From the tundra mires to the temperate swamps, tropical forested rivers, desert oases, and deltas, its the dynamic interaction of water and land that matters. Wetlands adorn, connect, and permeate our landscapes, storing and regulating water and providing vital stepping stones for migratory water birds.

From my early days as an ecologist, these magical ecosystems were the obvious choice for my focus and conservation efforts. But traditional conservation approaches have proven inadequate to save them. I have witnessed decades of draining, taming, conversion, and fragmentation and now see wetland natural resources being hotly contested, on the frontline as humans demand more water, food, and energy. In many places, water scarcity as well as rising floods are placing a limit on development and endangering peace. As risks related to devastating floods increase, the benefits of investing in wetlands as climate buffers, and as a basis for food security and equitable development, are increasingly recognized. But in terms of global wetland recovery, we are still settling into the starting blocks. Science is an insufficient basis for driving action. Accelerating the necessary change will depend on people revering and valuing wetlands more.

After meeting Fred Pearce some years ago at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC, following his impassioned speech about the tragedy of the Aral Sea and other wetlands of the world, I knew instantly that we should work together. His storytelling reportage has since helped Wetlands International explain to a wider audience how enabling communities to better manage wetlands can improve their well-being and build resilience across whole landscapes. Over recent years, we have discussed the need for a book which would help to lift and refresh the image of wetlands and serve as a call to action.

With Water Lands, we bring you stories, images and examples from wetlands around the world which reveal what is really happening and what is at stake in future choices. We aim to instil a sense of urgency and also hope. Most of all, we aim to inspire you to follow, support, and join efforts that will result in a turnaround for wetlands, their nature, and peoples.

Jane Madgwick

Chief Executive Officer, Wetlands International

The Garden of Eden, a Christian image of paradise, may have been based on the Mesopotamian Marshes in modern-day Iraq.

everlasting swamps

E verything here depends on the water, but the government is taking our water. They are giving it to foreign farmers. The lakes dont fill properly now. Daouda Sanankoua, Mayor of Deboye in Mali, was describing the plight of his constituents in the heart of the Inner Niger Delta, on the edge of the Sahara Desert. Their water, collecting in a wetland the size of Belgium, once nurtured a great civilization around the fabled city of Timbuktu. Today, two million people depend on its fish, and its waters washing across croplands and pastures. Millions of European birds migrate to the delta each winter. But dams upstream are diverting water away from the delta. The wind is driving sand into our village, said one of Sanankouas people. Most of our fields are gone.