Natural History Journal

Download this infographic (and more) from the World Wetland Day's website: https://www.worldwetlandsday.org/materials/-/categories/11086 Celebrated annually on February 2nd, World Wetlands Day marks the anniversary of the 1971 Ramsar  Convention, also known as the Convention on Wetlands, an international treaty created to support the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands around the world.  Currently, there are over 2,300 Ramsar sights, or Wetlands of International Importance, that have been designated worldwide - which is good news considering the sad state of our world's wetlands. Since 1970, 35% of wetlands have been lost, at a rate three times greater than the loss of forests ( source ).  In the continental United States, over half of all wetlands have been destroyed since the 1700's ( source , source ). California alone has lost between 90 and 95% of its wetlands. Sunset at Merced NWR, a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance, right here in Cali...

Ah, the swamp.  A stinky, mucky, oozy, icky, bug-infested no-man's land, brimming with creepy crawlies and things you'd never want to run into at night.  A place no one wants to visit; a land without use or purpose.  Right? Wrong. Entirely wrong. (Except for the part about being bug-infested.  That part might be true.*) Eric and I recently returned home from visiting friends, family and a slew of historic sites in the Carolinas and Virginia.  We hiked in gloriously verdant forests, birded in exceedingly productive wetlands, swam in the balmy Atlantic, and toured a plethora of places brimming with history: two plantations, five Revolutionary War battlefields, four Civil War battlefields, two forts, and two historic Colonial settlements.  (Aside: I cannot recommend a visit to Colonial Williamsburg and Historic Jamestowne highly enough!!) Perhaps most significantly (for me), we experienced South Carolina's swamps. Swamps, like all other wetlands...