The most amazing wetlands in the world

Wetlands are considered the most biologically diverse of all ecosystems, and occur naturally on every continent except Antarctica. Serving as home to an astonishing variety of plant and animal life, wetlands also serve as an important environment to many bird species. The water in wetlands is either freshwater, brackish, or saltwater, and wetland types include swamps, bogs, and marshes. Most of these unique and fragile ecosystems are protected. But all remain vulnerable to climate change and the effects of human impact.

Okavango Delta, Botswana

This outstanding wetland region in Botswana is made up of a swampy inland delta formed where the Okavango River empties over the sands of the Kalahari Desert.

Africa's big five game animals—the lion, leopard, African buffalo, African bush elephant, and both the black and white rhinoceros—are Okavango Delta residents. It also hosts over 400 bird species, including the helmeted guineafowl, wattled crane, and lilac-breasted roller. 

Camargue, France

Botanists and anybody else interested in flora visiting the Camargue will be amazed by the variety of plants and flowers thriving here. Sea lavender (pictured) and glasswort flourish, as does tamarisk.

Pantanal, Brazil

The Pantanal encompasses the world's largest tropical wetland area (the name "Pantanal" comes from the Portuguese word pântano, meaning wetland, bog, swamp, quagmire, or marsh).

Approximately 2,000 different plants have been identified in the Pantanal biome. In addition, the Pantanal ecosystem is also thought to be home to 463 bird species, 269 fish species, more than 236 mammalian, reptilian, and amphibian species, and over 9,000 subspecies of invertebrates. Pictured: a southern tamandua, a species of anteater.

Danube Delta, Romania

The delta's vast reed beds (the largest expanse in the world), numerous lakes, myriad waterways, and plentiful marshes make it home to a wealth of flora and fauna.

Kafue Flats, Zambia

Zambia's Kafue Flats form the vast majority of the Kafue National Park—a beguiling wetland landscape of grasslands, lagoons, marshes, swamps, reed beds, and seasonally inundated floodplains.

The magnificent kudu, another species of antelope, is also very much at home on the Kafue Flats grasslands.

Sundarbans, Bangladesh

The freshwater swamp forests and mangrove eco-region provide a unique ecosystem and a rich wildlife habitat for an abundance of flora, a huge variety of birds, and a bewildering array of mammals.

Kopački Rit, Croatia

Kopački Rit is one of the most important, largest, and most attractive preserved intact wetlands in Europe. Caused by the confluence of the Drava and the Danube rivers, this nature park in eastern Croatia sits on the border with Serbia.

The endangered ferruginous duck (pictured) is a treat for birdwatchers, as is the rare black stork. Kopački Rit also has over 140 recorded species of plant—some of which are very rare and only found in a few places in Croatia.

Ria Formosa, Portugal

Annually, about 30,000 birds can be observed from Ria Formosa, since the region serves as a migratory corridor and contains some of the last remaining nesting grounds in Europe for some bird species.

Sudd, South Sudan

This vast swamp in South Sudan is formed by the waters of the White Nile and covers an impressive 15% of the country's total land area.

The Sudd is rich in wildlife. Some 70 species of fish have been recorded here and over 400 species of bird are found in the Sudd, including the shoebill (a stronghold for the species, with several thousand individuals - pictured). The swamp is also a haven for numerous migrating mammals.

Caerlaverock, Scotland

A pair of ospreys have nested on the reserve since 2005. In fact, ospreys from as far south as Senegal are known to winter at Caerlaverock.

Caerlaverock's other claim to fame is that each year the entire population—all 35,000 of them—of barnacle geese returns from the Svalbard archipelago in Norway, around 10,000 of which are usually to be found in the WWT reserve.

Mesopotamia Marshes, Iraq

A wetland area located in southern Iraq and southwestern Iran, the Mesopotamia Marshes used to be the largest wetland ecosystem of Western Eurasia. That is before Saddam Hussein ordered the draining of the marshland in the 1990s as punishment to the region's Marsh Arabs, who had backed an uprising. Since the fall of Hussein's regime in 2003, the marshes have partially recovered. But drought along with upstream dam construction and operation in Turkey, Syria, and Iran have hindered the process. Pictured: Marsh Arabs poling a traditional mashoof in the marshes of southern Iraq.

Designated as Iraq’s first national park in 2013 and as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2016, the wetlands are home to 40 species of bird, including the Iraq babbler (pictured) and the Basra reed warbler, plus several species of fish.

Many other birds, however, species that include the sacred ibis (pictured) and the African darter, remain at risk, as do some mammals, among them the smooth-coated otter.

Marais Poitevin, France

Some regions of the Marais Poitevon, a large area of marshland in western France, are known as the La Venise Verte, or "Green Venice," such is the verdant and captivating allure of the maze of islets and luminous canals that characterize this expanse of wet marshland.

A popular tourist destination, sections of the Marais Poitevin are a designated national park. Several picturesque villages provide departure points for sightseeing boats, vessels that include traditional barques.