Harteman Wildfowl Aviaries

What are wetlands?

Wetlands are the most threatened ecosystems in the world, but are providing our drinking water, are essential to maintaining biodiversity, climate resilience, and human livelihoods.

 

Wetlands are among the most diverse and dynamic ecosystems on Earth, home to a rich array of species and vital to both nature and people. Their shifting boundaries between land and water make them essential for biodiversity, climate regulation and human livelihoods - but also place them at the intersection of multiple, often overlapping, policy frameworks. Such ecological and functional complexity is reflected in the wide range of legislation that affect wetlands conservation, their use and management.

 

The Ramsar Convention is the international agreement (1972) that guides the protection and sustainable use of wetlands and their resources. It also provides a clear definition of what is considered a wetland. It tells us that wetlands come in many forms: temporary or permanent, inland or coastal. Natural wetlands include lakes and rivers, underground aquifers, swamps and marshes, wet grasslands, peatlands, oases, estuaries, deltas, tidal flats, coastal areas including mangroves and even coral reefs.

Did you know that human-made ponds (aquaculture, water storage, treatment, or decoration), rice paddies, reservoirs and saltpans are also considered as wetlands?

Wetlands for Life

Wetlands are fascinating and vital ecosystems, but many people still don’t know much about them. EAZA's campaign "Wetlands for Life" inspires people to care about wetlands – wherever they are. The campaign will fundraise for selected projects that focus on wetland threats and solutions in the regions where flamingos occur.

As a participant in some of EAZA's waterfowl Ex-situ Programmes (EEP's), I fully support the Wetlands for Life campaign, as I understand the importance of these habitats for all life - not only for waterfowl or flamingos.

Above: Greater flamingos at Reserva Natural de la Laguna de Fuente de Piedra. Photo by Jan Harteman (2025). The Fuente de Piedra Lagoon is a wetland located in the Málaga province of Spain. It is used by the greater flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) for its annual reproduction cycle, constituting the largest colony on the Iberian Peninsula of this bird. This wetland is also an important site for Marbled teal (Marmaronetta angustirostris), white-headed duck (Oxyura leucocephala), black-winged stilt (Himantopus himantopus) and many other species. 

Wetland restoration and reintroduction of marbled ducks

𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗘𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲'𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝘄𝗹 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘀, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗸, 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝗲𝘅𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘄𝗲𝘁𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. Less than 2 decades ago, the future was looking bleak for the Marbled duck. Once plentiful across the Mediterranean basin, in 2009 the species was down to just 20 breeding pairs in Spain, with extinction being a very real possibility.

 

𝗙𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲, 𝗘𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲’𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗸 𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸, 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝟭𝟯𝟭 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗿𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿. The species received a major boost in 2024 when the LIFE project responsible for this remarkable success story — LIFE Cerceta Pardilla — acquired the 90 ha La Raja rural plot located within the Natura 2000 El Hondo Nature Reserve and added it to 2 other plots bought earlier in the project.

 

Together, the 3 rural plots include more than 141 ha of wetlands, which are essential breeding grounds for the Marbled duck, as well as for other endangered species, including the White-headed duck, Western swamp hen, Pied avocet, Common tern, Little tern and Black-haired owl. Altogether so far, LIFE Cerceta Pardilla has restored more than 2,300 ha of habitat suitable for the target species, 𝗻𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝟯,𝟬𝟬𝟬 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲-𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗸𝘀 (from Reserva Aves Cañada de los Pájaros) have been released into the wild and 13 'Land Stewardship agreements' have been signed with local land owners.

 

More details can be read here. 

Above: Once one of Europe’s most threatened species, the Marbled duck (Marmaronetta angustirostris) has been rescued from the brink of extinction in Spain and thanks to LIFE Cerceta Pardilla and Reserva Aves Cañada de los Pájaros, it is now recovering slowly but surely.