Ideas from the CBC: The Marrow for Nature: A Case For Wetlands

Our relationship with wetlands is nothing if not troubled. Throughout history, wetlands have been dammed, drained and dug up to make way for agriculture and human settlement, while wetlands themselves have been cast as toxic wastelands, from the dead marshes in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings to the vegetal monster from the DC comic Swamp Thing. Yet not every perspective on wetlands is negative; Henry David Thoreau called them 'the marrow of nature' and cultures around the world have used wetlands as sites of sanctuary and sustenance. That squelchy history — and the reasons experts say saving wetlands is crucial to our future.