As we head into the holiday weekend and wrap up American Wetlands Month, its important to raise awareness of the importance of wetlands to wildlife and communities. Research has shown that protecting high-quality habitat, like wetlands, can protect birds as changing temperatures and unpredictable weather patterns disrupt bird migrations. These water-saturated areas of lands have the incredible ability to naturally absorb the carbon pollution that contributes to global temperature rise.
Wetlands aren’t just important to the wildlife that depend on them, they’re are also important to people. They play a major role in maintaining water quality, serving as natural water purifiers to keep the water in inland lakes and streams clean, and can store a massive amount of water during heavy rains. A one-acre wetland only a foot deep can store up to 1.5 million gallons of floodwater! If you want to learn more about wetlands, check out our beginner’s guide here.
Audubon Great Lakes has an ambitious vision to restore or protect the highest priority 300,000 acres of coastal wetland habitat for birds and people over the next decade. Learn more about our restoration work in some of the high priority regions around the Great Lakes including the Calumet Region along Lake Michigan in Indiana and Illinois and the St. Louis River Estuary along Lake Superior in Wisconsin and Minnesota. And our latest restoration project along Lake Ontario.
Earlier this month, we also released new polling data in Indiana that shows Hoosiers, overwhelmingly, do not want wetlands protections weakened in the state. You can read more about the polling data here.
The good news is that we are already seeing signs of success where wetland have been restored! The 40-year trend of marsh bird population declines are stabilizing, and several species populations are increasing in breeding abundance in newly restored wetlands.
Our restoration work shows that it’s not too late to restore important habitats for the benefit of wildlife, and communities everywhere.Read more |
