For many years people thought of wetlands as yucky, soggy, useless land. It would be much better if this land was drained so crops could be grown, or filled so people could build on it. It even seemed a great spot to use as a garbage dump because then you could both dump and fill. Now people are trying to save and protect wetlands because we understand why they are important.
Many animals depend on wetlands for some part of their life cycle, like fish, frogs and mosquitoes.
Wetland plants are very productive and support a rich web of life, from simple molds to mammals. Wetlands provide shelter and food for fish. Wetlands provide flood control by soaking up the water that falls as rain. Wetlands make the water clearer and filter out things that make the water impure, like chemical pollution. Wetlands are a wonderful place to visit, look, and listen, learn and experience life.