Pressures

Despite all the services they provide to human societies, wetlands worldwide continue to face many pressures from human activities, and the Mediterranean is no exception. Their loss and degradation, started centuries ago, are often considered as an unfortunate but still unavoidable effect of the human development process and needs.
 
While there are increasing cases of wetlands protection and restoration, impacts of human activities are mostly negative on these ecosystems.

Among them:

• loss in wetland surface (e.g. drainage for human health, for conversion to agriculture fields, urban areas or tourism infrastructures)
• changes in vegetation types (e.g. due to drying-up because of water abstraction upstream, for various human uses)
• water pollution (due e.g. to surrounding factories, intensive agriculture development and use as waste pits)
• disappearance and modification of wildlife (e.g. due to change of wetlands ecosystems, perturbation by visitors, etc.)

 
These negative impacts result from a number of pressures such as agriculture, urbanization, industry, fishing, tourism development, energy, transport and hunting. Each pressure may impact several types of wetlands services. For example, agriculture development may impact wetland surfaces, hydraulic regimes, water quality, and wetland types/ landscapes.

Please click on the diagram below to know more: