More thorny issues. Finally it got to the point where we decided an entire article would have to be devoted to thorny issues. Much of the confusion arises from the essentially dual nature of wetlands. They are neither and they are both. Nowadays we understand that being both water and land gives wetlands their unique value in the natural world.
Wetlands can do things that no other type of landscape can do.
Among other things, they provide a specialized living space for plants and animals, some of which can flourish nowhere else. But it took a long time for humans to appreciate wetlands. You couldn't boat them or farm them or build on them. They were viewed as wastelands, breeders of insects and disease. The best solution was to drain or fill them, to transform them into useful land.