📰 Wetland News - April 25, 2024
Your weekly briefing on wetland and water issues.
Wetland round-up
- Keep up-to-date with the latest wetland and water related news, research and jobs. If you’d like to receive regular updates on all things wetland, please subscribe to this newsletter.
🧾 Wetlands in the news
UK Peatland Code likely to stack biodiversity credits with carbon from 2025
Backed by the UK government, the Peatland Code offers the only UK peatland carbon credit units, which can be purchased to offset emissions. The Code is now looking into the potential of allowing voluntary biodiversity credits to be included in future projects. This could be a great step-forward for the Peatland Code and encourage greater investment in this often overlooked area of emission offsetting.
Art events set to shine light on 'true wilderness'
The importance of an area of saltmarsh in Essex, UK, is being highlighted through a series of funded art projects, walks and workshops. As a wetland scientist it’s all too easy to expect everyone to know how important these habitats are, but this certainly isn’t the case and so projects like this, which engage the local community, are vital.
Archbishop calls for halt to “indefensible abuse” of rivers
The Archbishop of Wales has called for a halt to the “indefensible abuse” of our waterways. Archbishop Andrew John said rivers, were dying because of pollution. Now, I have to declare an interest here as the Archbishop and I, along with others, are working on the summit, Restoring Welsh Rivers, to be held this November. Some people think the Archbishop shouldn’t be talking about such issues; personally I think everyone with a voice should be sticking up for nature and a better environment, so good on the Archbishop!
Illinois wetlands deserve protection. Lawmakers should make that happen
Illinois has lost a staggering 90% of the wetlands it had a couple of hundred years ago. There’s now growing support for the State to give them more protection.
Thames Water says staff enduring abuse from public
Thames Water has come under some serious flack for their performance recently, and they have admitted themselves they need to do better. However, giving individual workers abuse is utterly unacceptable. It’s also important to remember the state of our rivers is not just the fault of an individual water company, it’s due to societal failure across many sectors.
🧪 Wetland research
Will Florida’s mangroves be ready for the next hurricane?
This week we’re looking at some ongoing work by scientists from Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) researching the survival of mangroves following Hurricane Ian in 2022. Brain Bovard and Win Everham from FGCU found that areas of mangroves that were in the path of Ian experienced a delayed mortality, likely due to the amount of sediment brought into the system by the storm.
“In areas where the sediment was deposited, we basically have a ghost forest with a carpet of young trees that are just starting to come up,” said Dr Bovard.The scientists are now concerned the mangroves won’t have recovered in time for the next storm, if climate change increases the chance of these occurrences.
“The trees were adopted to recover, but if their adaptations drove them to a recovery that took 30 years, and we start having a hurricane every 10 years something is going to happen out there," said Dr Everham.Research is now being conducted to understand the recovery of these mangrove systems better, and to see what can be done to enhance it.
“We need those mangroves. We protect mangroves, they protect us," said Dr Everham. "And we need to understand them more fully so we can do a better job in protecting them.”
💰 Wetland jobs
Catchment Resilience Officer: River Waveney Trust
The River Waveney Trust is an environmental charity dedicated to improving and protecting the River Waveney, making it a better place for people and wildlife. The role will suit an individual with skills in delivering farm advice and environmental projects with an emphasis on rivers and catchments, specifically natural flood management.Project Officer - Wetland Learning Hub: WWT
The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust have an exciting opportunity within its International CEPA (Communication, Capacity Building, Education, Participation and Awareness) Team to deliver learning tools to support wetland conservation across the globe.
Get in-touch 📢
If you’d like to get in-touch please follow Dr Christian Dunn on Twitter/X (@christiandunn) or Instagram (@drchristiandunn), or email c.dunn@bangor.ac.uk.
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