Wetlands: Lifeline for people at the edge

Communities with livelihood strategies that combine subsistence agriculture with utilisation of wetland resources constitute a significant proportion of the population in developing countries. Their livelihood depends to a la rge extent on the productivity of the natural systems, in particular wetlan ds that provide a great variety of functions and benefits. This includes th eir role as hydrological buffers and the provision of food, water, construc tion materials, as well as many other products. In addition, wetlands may p rovide options for additional developments such as tourism. Many of the ame nities, functions and values of wetlands are crucial, not only for the food security of these people, but also for the survival of their cultures. To safeguard and possibly enhance the benefits of development for many comm unities who subsist on wetlands it is imperative that the benefits of the n atural wetland ecosystems including their values for subsistence economies are recognised when planning and implementing development projects. Unfortu nately, the importance of wetlands for these communities has been and conti nues to be too often ignored. While developments may bring economic prosper ity or improved food security for the urban populations, often it is the po orer and marginalised people who subsist at the edge of wetlands and who ar e not involved the development planning that suffer from the negative envir onmental impacts of such developments. For many of these communities the lo ss of the wetlands would be tantamount to losing their lifeline. Emerging integrated wetland and water resources management approaches offer mechanisms to involve all stakeholders, to reconcile otherwise conflicting interests and to incorporate in the development plans the intrinsic natura l values of wetlands. International conventions (e.g. the Ramsar Convention , Convention on Combating Desertification), and current vision building ini tiatives (e.g. World Water Vision) contribute to and promote the developmen t of integrated development of policies at the international, national and local levels. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.