World Wetlands Day

I used to think that February 2 was simply Groundhog Day.

But apparently it’s also World Wetlands Day – a day to celebrate and appreciate the rich bio-diversity and economic benefits of an under-appreciated wonder of water. Forty years ago on this date, the world signed the Ramsar Convention to protect the world’s wetlands.

I had never heard about Ramsar until this year. I used to think of wetlands simply as wastelands – ugly, mosquito-breeding eyesores on the landscape. I considered them like the Dead Marshes near Mordor in Lord of the Rings whose mists and vapors gave off a terrible stench.

Actually, wet-lands serve us very well. Mud-flats and mangrove swamps buffer the coastline and reduce erosion. Swamps, bogs, marshes and fens are huge sponges that absorb flood-water, filter out pollutants and hold them in the soil, improving water quality. They filter rainwater run-off, minimizing the silting of rivers and streams.

They are nutrient-rich eco-zones that promote amazing bio-diversity. In fact, wetlands are now recognized as among the most productive eco-systems on the planet along with coral reefs and tropical rain forests. They provide habitat for birds, reptiles, amphibians, mammals and plants, often found nowhere else. If you like cranberries, thank God for wetlands, because that’s the only environment where they grow.

In the Book of Job, one of Job’s friends draws an analogy from the wetlands. He asks “Can papyrus grow tall where there is no marsh? Can reeds thrive without water?" Job 8:11.

He argues that human beings depend on God like papyrus reeds depend on water. We may try, but we can no more transplant ourselves than cranberries can adapt to dry-soil terrain.

Just as duckweed needs the swamp and humans need the spirit of God, so our civilized world needs the wetlands. They may not be as photogenic as a Caribbean beach, but they remind us that God often uses the weak things of this world to humble the proud.

Happy World Wetlands Day!