Wetland Ecotourism

Abstract

Wetlands are important ecosystems worldwide that have provided a number of ecosystems services. Ecosystem services are a wide range of social, economic, cultural, and environmental benefits that people receive from ecosystems (Costanza et al. in Nature 387:253–260, 1997). Wetlands provide a number of ecosystem services such as maintaining water quality and supply, decreasing suspended matter, regulating atmospheric gases, sequestering carbon, regulating water regimes, retaining pollutants, sustaining unique indigenous biota, protecting shorelines, and providing recreational, cultural and educational resources (Dise in Science 326:810–811, 2009; Haslam et al. in The production ecology of wetlands: the IBP synthesis. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 405–464, 2009). Also, wetlands are considered rich in biodiversity and are among the most vulnerable and sensitive ecosystems (Smardon in Sustaining the world's wetlands setting policy and resolving conflicts. Springer, New York, 2009).