Wetland Poetics: Regional-Situatedness as Planetary Practice

Abstract

Public debates around the current environmental crisis in Latin America have made clear that certain ecosystems are perceived as more charismatic than others. The Amazon Rainforest and Glaciers of Patagonia receive much more research attention and policy coverage than, say, the wetlands of the Paraná Delta River. Perhaps some of wetlands’ lesser public appeal can be attributed to their conceptual indeterminacy. In 1971, the Wetland Convention of Ramsar in Iran defined wetlands as “areas of marsh, fen, peatland or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six meters” (“Article 1”). Despite this slippery definition, which we could generally sum up as areas flooded either temporarily or permanently, wetlands are an integral part of the natural systems that make life on earth possible: not only do they serve as fresh water reservoirs, 40% of the world’s biodiversity lives or reproduces on them (“Cambio climático”). Crucially, wetlands cushion the impacts of rain and store more carbon than any other ecosystem, allowing them to function as great purifying filters and making them important allies in the fight against climate change.