They provide fresh water, food, and resources, they act as natural sponges absorbing rainfall, reducing the flooding of rivers and streams, and thus delaying the onset of droughts; they help regulate floods; they are natural filters that purify the water of pollutants while storing, recycling and processing nutrients; they accumulate 30% of the carbon generated by the planet and capture 12 times more CO2 than forests.

Wetlands are lost three times faster than natural forests.