Scientists with the World Conservation Union (IUCN) and Costa Rica's National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC) are hunting high and low in search of wetlands. "You can't protect wetlands if you don't know where they are," says IUCN biologist Rocio Córdoba. With support from the Australian government, Córdoba and her team are creating a computer database of all the wetland data they gather, so it is accessible to everyone who works for SINAC. The goal is to develop a national strategy for wetlands protection.
Identifying the entire country's wetlands collection is no easy trick. The first thing to look for is water; if the water table is at or near ground level, or if the land is covered by shallow water, it's a wetland. The water can be still or flowing, fresh, brackish, or salty. Wetlands can be atop mountains or at the edge of the sea.
Countless species of plants and animals depend on wetlands for survival, while people need these rich ecosystems for water, fish, timber, fruits and seeds. Whether they're called marshes, fens, bogs, bayous, or swamps, they all protect dry land from flooding and erosion.
Worldwide, wetlands are drained and filled at an alarming rate, mainly for agriculture and other development. Mangrove swamps are destroyed for salt extraction and shrimp farming, while mangrove trees are cut for firewood and to make charcoal.
Nearly 900 of the world's most critical wetlands are protected under the Ramsar Convention, an in-ternational treaty adopted in 1971 in Ramsar, Iran. One hundred nations have signed the treaty, including 16 in Latin America. Sixteen wetlands in Central America are on the Ramsar list, covering 1.2 million acres (486,086 hectares). "In Costa Rica, we have found 320 wetlands, covering about five percent of the country," notes Córdoba. "Six fall under the protection of the Ramsar Convention."
Representatives of countries that have signed the Ramsar convention meet every three years; the next gathering will be in 1999 in Costa Rica, the first time the conference has been held in a Latin American country. Marco Solano of SINAC says that some 1500 experts are expected to attend in order to discuss wetlands protection and how local communities can get involved in the sustainable use of these ecosystems.
Delmar Blasco, Secretary General of the Ramsar Convention, says he hopes the conference "renews interest in and recognition of the wetlands in the region, and that renewed interest will result in actions to better protect these ecosystems."
CONTACTS: Marco Solano, SINAC, Apdo. 10104-1000, San Jose, Costa Rica, tel
506/283-8004, fax 283-7118; IUCN, Apdo. 146-2150, San Jose, Costa Rica, tel
506/236-2733, fax 506/240-9934
This article is provided from the Rainforest Alliance's Conservation Media Center,
based in San Jose,Costa Rica. For more information, contact Diane Jukofsky or Chris Wille,
Rainforest Alliance, Apdo. 138-2150, Moravia, San Jose, Costa Rica; Phone: 506-240-9383;
Fax: 506-240-2543; Email: infotrop@sol.racsa.co.cr
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