CSIRO PUBLISHING

Marine and Freshwater Research, 2014, 65, 934–941

Short communication
http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/MF14173

How much wetland has the world lost? Long-term

and recent trends in global wetland area

Nick C. Davidson

Institute for Land, Water and Society, Charles Sturt University, Albury, NSW, Australia; and
Chemin des Jordils 18, 1261 Le Vaud, Switzerland. Email: arenaria.interpres@gmail.com

Abstract. It has been frequently stated, but without provision of supporting evidence, that the world has lost 50% of its
wetlands (or 50% since 1900 AD). This review of 189 reports of change in wetland area finds that the reported long-term
loss of natural wetlands averages between 54–57% but loss may have been as high as 87% since 1700 AD. There has been a
much (3.7 times) faster rate of wetland loss during the 20th and early 21st centuries, with a loss of 64–71% of wetlands
since 1900 AD. Losses have been larger and faster for inland than coastal natural wetlands. Although the rate of wetland
loss in Europe has slowed, and in North America has remained low since the 1980s, the rate has remained high in Asia,
where large-scale and rapid conversion of coastal and inland natural wetlands is continuing. It is unclear whether the
investment by national governments in the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands has influenced these rates of loss. There is a
need to improve the knowledge of change in wetland areas worldwide, particularly for Africa, the Neotropics and
Oceania, and to improve the consistency of data on change in wetland areas in published papers and reports.

Additional keywords: coastal, conversion, inland, loss, Ramsar Convention.

Received 25 June 2014, accepted 25 July 2014, published online 23 September 2014

Introduction which recognised the great value of wetlands, ‘the loss of which
Humankind has been draining, in-filling and converting both would be irreparable’, to people, and which has the desire to ‘stem
coastal and inland wetlands for many centuries: for example the loss and degradation of wetlands now and in the future’,
since at least Roman times in Europe (Davidson et al. 1991); at through the wise use of all wetlands, the designation and
least the 17th century in North America (Dahl 1990) and management of Wetlands of International Importance (‘Ramsar
southern Africa (Kotze et al. 1995); and for at least 2000 years in Sites’) and international cooperation (see Matthews 1993; de
China (An et al. 2007). This conversion and degradation of Klemm 1995; Ramsar Convention Secretariat 2011; for the
wetlands continues, with the underlying drivers being economic history of the Convention). The Convention now has 168 govern-
and human population growth, and proximate causes being mental Contracting Parties, which have designated 2185 Ramsar
conversion at first to extensive and then intensive agriculture Sites covering over 208 million hectares of wetlands and associ-
(croplands), changes in water use and availability (including the ated habitats (see www.ramsar.org, accessed 23 June 2014).
downstream effects of water abstraction and major hydro- It has been widely reported that 50% (or at least 50%) of the
engineering schemes), increasing urbanisation and infrastruc- world’s wetlands have been lost (or lost since 1900), but the
ture development, disease control (especially for mosquitoes), provenance of this figure is obscure. Its origin appears to date
spread of invasive species and, on the coast, sea defences, port back to reports in the USA in the mid 1950s. Shaw and Fredine
and industrial developments, and aquaculture (Finlayson et al. (1956) calculated that for seven US states the loss of marshes
2005; van Asselen et al. 2013). and swamps (only), mostly through drainage and conversion for
Widespread (although mostly not quantified) inland and agriculture and flood protection, was 45.7% between 1850 and
coastal wetland drainage and conversion, and particularly its 1953, but noted that this figure was only from those states that
impact on hunted waterfowl populations, has been increasingly were particularly active in wetland conversion. Weller (1981),
reported and raised as a concern since the 1920s in North citing Shaw and Fredine (1956), USDA (1980) and loss of
America (see Schmidt 2006) and from the early 1960s in Europe prairie pothole wetlands from Schrader (1955), reported to a
(Swift 1964; Hoffmann 1964). Hoffmann (1964) concluded that wildlife conference in Minnesota, USA, that ‘precise data on
‘in temperate regions drainage of wetlands is proceeding at an wetland losses due to drainage are lacking, but large wetland
increased rate and without reference to their diverse values’, and regions [in the USA] have suffered as much as 50 to 96% loss
recommended the establishment of an international convention from the time of first settlement’. At the same conference
on wetlands. This led, in 1971, to the global in scope establish- Harmon (1981), stated that ‘wetland losses exceed 50% in many
ment of the ‘Ramsar Convention on Wetlands’ (Carp 1972), waterfowl habitats – prairie pothole region and bottomland

Journal compilation Ó CSIRO 2014 www.publish.csiro.au/journals/mfr

Global wetland loss Marine and Freshwater Research 935

hardwoods, for example’, based on losses in the Prairie Pothole 1974; 1975 to 1989; or 1990 and later. For some analyses,
region (Harmon 1980) and bottomland hardwoods in the long-term records were further allocated to one of three time
Mississippi Delta (USFWS 1978). Both authors were writing periods: pre-18th century; 18th century; or 19th century. As many
in the context of the USA only. records provided only a percentage change and not a wetland
Winkler and DeWitt (1985), in a paper on impacts of peat area for a start or end year, trends could not be corrected for any
mining and citing only Harmon (1981) and Weller (1981), then bias arising from the different size of the wetland areas assessed
stated that ‘the biggest changes in land-use since 1900 have in different time periods.
been a 50% decrease in wetlands globally’, introducing unsub- Each record was categorised as being for natural inland,
stantiated global and temporal elements to the earlier state- natural coastal, unspecified natural wetland type(s) or human-
ments. This has subsequently, in various forms, been restated: made wetlands. While recognising that probably no wetland in the
Maltby (1986), citing Winkler and DeWitt (1985): ‘According world is now wholly ‘natural’, for this analysis a natural wetland is
to some experts, the world may have lost half its wetlands since one whose habitat types have not been wholly altered to a different
1900’; Dugan (1993, 2005): ‘The loss of wetlands worldwide, land-cover type or to a human-made wetland type sensu the
which some specialists estimate as being in the order of 50 per Ramsar Convention’s classification of wetland types (http://
cent of those that once existed y’; OECD (1996): ‘Some www.ramsar.org/cda/en/ramsar-documents-info-information-
estimates show that the world may have lost 50 per cent of the sheet-on/main/ramsar/1-31-59%5E21253_4000_0__#type, acces-
wetlands that existed worldwide since 1900’; and Maltby and sed 10 July 2014).
Acreman (2011): ‘This is probably about half of the extent that Each record was assigned to one of six geographical regions
existed before human modifications during historical times’. (sensu the regional categorisation under the Ramsar Convention
Finlayson and Davidson (1999) noted that ‘The loss of wetlands on Wetlands): Africa, Asia, Europe, Neotropics (Central and
worldwide has been estimated at 50% of those that existed in South America and the Caribbean), North America or Oceania
1900 – a figure that includes inland wetlands and possibly (which includes Australasia). A few records were reported at
mangroves, but not large estuaries and marine wetlands such as only a global or multi-regional scale.
reefs and seagrasses’, and Perennou et al. (2012) citing Each record is of the overall ‘net change’ in wetland area
Finlayson and Davidson (1999) noted that ‘worldwide loss over reported, and so can include any areas of wetland that may have
the same period [20th century] has [.] been estimated at 50%’. been restored or created within the reported area during the time
Finlayson and D’Cruz (2005) and Finlayson (2012), drawing period. It is likely that for some records there may have been
on a collation of information on the extent of wetlands globally conversion of part or all of the natural wetland to a human-made
(Finlayson et al. 1999), cautioned that ‘there is insufficient wetland type (e.g. through conversion to aquaculture ponds or
information on the extent of specific wetland types to substanti- the damming of rivers and floodplains to create reservoirs), but
ate the commonly reported 50% wetland loss globally’. information as to which habitat types or other land-cover a
The statements of 50% wetland loss seem to have become wetland was converted was seldom reported.
widely received wisdom, despite originating from very limited Not all records provided sufficient year-period information
data from the USA only for the mid 20th century. In the mid from which to calculate a rate of change, and very few records
1980s, this was then restated as a global figure of loss since 1900 provide any intermediate data points between a start and end
AD, and since then has been repeated in various forms. year. Therefore, for consistency, annual percentage rates of
Here I make a first global assessment of the published change in wetland area were calculated as the arithmetic mean
evidence for temporal and geographical trends in the extent of change between the start and end year of each record. Statistical
wetlands, and rates of change in wetland area. This was done to tests were conducted using Vassarstat (www.vassarstats.net,
determine whether or not there is evidence to support the accessed 12 June 2014) and Handbook of Biological Statistics
statements that the world has lost 50% of its wetlands, since (http://www.biostathandbook.com/, accessed 25 May 2014).
historical times or since 1900 AD. With wetland losses known to Details of records and their sources are provided as Supplemen-
have continued during the last quarter of the 20th century and tary Material.
beyond, could such a figure also be an underestimate of overall
20th century wetland loss? Further, is there evidence that the
Results
loss of wetlands has been stemmed in the more than 40 years
since the establishment of the Ramsar Convention in 1971? Spatial coverage of wetland area change
The published evidence for change in wetland area is patchy and
limited, especially for Africa, the Neotropics and Oceania (see
Methods Supplementary Material). There are few parts of the world with
I analysed changes in wetland extent, and rates of change in comprehensive assessments of change in wetland area, notable
extent, from 189 reports in published scientific journal papers exceptions being the USA (Dahl 2006, 2011), China (An et al.
and reports. These cover a wide range of spatial scales, from a 2007; Niu et al. 2012; Zheng et al. 2012) and Europe (EEA 2010).
single wetland to national, regional and global scales; and In total, 64 long-term (63 for natural and one for human-made
widely different time periods, from a few years to many cen- wetlands) and 125 20th–early 21st century records (117 for
turies. All analyses are of change in the area of wetlands, and not natural and eight for human-made wetlands) were identified.
change in the number of wetlands. Most records were for Europe (51% of the total), Asia (20%) and
For analysis, records were allocated to one of five time North America (11%). There were fewer records for Africa (7%),
periods: ‘long-term’, before 1900 AD; 1900 to 1944; 1945 to the Neotropics (3%) and Oceania (5%). 24% of records were at
936 Marine and Freshwater Research N. C. Davidson

0
the single wetland site scale, 28% for sub-national regions, 34%
at national (country) scale, 11% at supra-national scale and 3% at
global scale. Most records were for natural wetlands: 46% for ⫺1
inland wetlands; 40% for coastal wetlands; 9% for unspecified

Rate of wetland area change (% change.y⫺1)

wetland type(s); and 5% for human-made wetlands.
The overall frequency of records at different spatial scales for ⫺2
natural wetlands was similar for long-term and 20th–early 21st
century records (x2 ¼ 5.44; d.f. 3; P ¼ 0.142) (see Supplemen-
⫺3
tary Material). However, the spatial scale frequency of records
for inland and coastal natural wetlands was different for both
long-term records (x2 ¼ 11.10; d.f. 3; P ¼ 0.011) and 20th–early ⫺4
21st century records (x2 ¼ 15.30; d.f. 3; P ¼ 0.002). For long-
term records, there were relatively more coastal records at
wetland site scale and relatively more inland records at sub- ⫺5
national region and national scales. For 20th–early 21st century
records there were relatively more coastal records at wetland site
⫺6
and national scales, and relatively more inland records at sub-
national region scale.
⫺7
The influence of spatial scale on the extent of reported
wetland area change
For 20th–early 21st century records of natural wetlands, both ⫺8
percentage change and rate of change were significantly related Site Subnational National Supranational Global
to the spatial scale of the record: for percentage change, Spatial scale of record
Spearman’s rho 0.342; d.f. 115; P ¼ 0.0002; and for rate of
change, Spearman’s rho 0.343; d.f. 115; P ¼ 0.0002 (Fig. 1). Fig. 1. Annual rates of change (%.y1) of natural wetlands recorded at
Reported rates of change in area were fastest for site-scale different spatial scales for records for the 20th and early 21st century. Each
records and slowest for supranational and global scale records. global-scale data point is for a different wetland type: peatlands; inland open
For long-term records, there were no significant differences waters; mangroves; and deltas.
between records of different spatial scales or between site-scale
and larger-scale records, for rate of change in wetland area or
percentage change in area. records starting earlier than the 18th century (Table 1). The
The biggest difference for 20th–early 21st century records average rate for 19th century records was significantly faster
was between site-scale records and those at larger spatial scales: than for earlier records ((M–W U test (two-sided): U ¼ 310;
a 1.9 times faster rate of change in area (Mann–Whitney U ¼ 876; z ¼ 2.96; P ¼ 0.0031), but significantly slower than that for
z ¼ 2.52; P ¼ 0.0117), and a 1.4 times higher percentage change the first half of the 20th century ((M–W U test (two-sided):
in area (M–W U ¼ 853.5; z ¼ 2.53; P ¼ 0.0114). The values U ¼ 377; z ¼ 2.59; P ¼ 0.0096).
given below include, where appropriate, site-scale records. Long-term loss of wetlands has been reported from all
regions of the world. The largest overall losses were for Europe
Long-term wetland area change and North America, with regional average losses by region
All records of long-term change of natural wetlands report a loss being Africa: 43.0% (n ¼ 3); Asia: 45.1% (n ¼ 7); Europe:
of wetland area. The global average long-term loss reported was 56.3% (n ¼ 38); North America: 56.0% (n ¼ 7); and Oceania:
53.5% (n ¼ 63) (Table 1), with more loss of inland natural 44.3% (n ¼ 6). Average long-term rates of loss were 1.8 times
wetlands (average 60.8%; n ¼ 25) than coastal wetlands (aver- faster in Europe (mean ¼ 0.323%.y1  0.316 s.d.; n ¼ 26)
age 46.4%; n ¼ 31). Excluding site-scale records, the global than in North America (mean ¼ 0.181%.y1  0.052 s.d.;
average loss was 56.9% (n ¼ 48), with 59.2% (n ¼ 24) for inland n ¼ 7). There were insufficient records to calculate long-term
and 49.8% (n ¼ 18) for coastal natural wetlands. rates of loss for other regions.
The long-term rate of loss for all types of natural wetland Long-term rates of natural wetland loss varied considera-
averaged 0.296%.y1 (Table 1). The rate of loss was 1.75 bly, but most were in the range 0.1%.y1 to 0.4%.y1. The
times, and significantly, faster for inland wetlands than for fastest long-term rates (above 0.5%.y1) were reported for
coastal wetlands (M–W U-test (two-sided): U ¼ 77; z ¼ 2.417; lowland raised bogs (peatlands) in parts of the United Kingdom,
P ¼ 0.016) (Table 2). Excluding site-scale records, the average floodplains in parts of Germany and the USA, and freshwater
rate of loss was 0.258%.y1 (n ¼ 35), and was 1.15 times marshes, coastal marshes and saltmarshes in parts of Italy (see
faster for inland natural wetlands (0.342%.y1; n ¼ 14) than Supplementary Material).
coastal natural wetlands (0.298%.y1; n ¼ 9) but the differ-
ence was not statistically significant (M–W U test (two-sided): Wetland area change in the 20th and early 21st centuries
U ¼ 83; z ¼ 1.23; P ¼ 0.219). The rate of loss of all natural wetland types during the 20th
Rates of loss of natural wetlands have increased progres- and early 21st centuries averaged 1.085%.y1 (Table 1), sig-
sively over the centuries, with the lowest average rate being for nificantly faster than the long-term loss rate (M–W U-test
Global wetland loss Marine and Freshwater Research 937

Table 1. Changes in the area of all types of natural wetlands over different time periods
n ¼ the number of records for each time period. s.d. ¼ Standard Deviation

Period n Average Average Average rate s.d. No. & percentage of reports with
no. of years area change (%) of change (%.y1) average change .1%.y1

Long-term:
up to and including
the 20th century (start year):
Pre-18th century 14A n/aB 55.4 0.113 0.079 0
18th century 6 224.3 56.9 0.239 0.081 0
19th century 20 137.6 48.9 0.422 0.312 2 (10%)
all long-term 63 n/aB 53.5 0.296C 0.278 2 (5%)
20th and early 21st century
(start year):
1900–1944 23 77.7 55.8 0.782 0.475 7 (30%)
1945–1974 38 37.9 49.3 1.363 1.446 23 (61%)
1975–1989 28 20.0 27.8 1.308 1.261 12 (43%)
1990 or later 17 13.0 6.5 0.565 0.803 4 (24%)
all 20th–early 21st century 117 38.6 38.5 1.085 1.163 49 (42%)
A
Not all reports of long-term change provided a start year from which to calculate a rate of area change.
B
Time periods vary greatly between records, from over a millennium (e.g. since Roman times in Italy), several hundred years (e.g. pre-colonial times in North
America, New Zealand and South Africa) to since the 19th century, and not all provide a year from which the record began.
C
n ¼ 40: not all reports of long-term change provided a start year from which to calculate a rate of area change.

Table 2. Rates of change in the area of natural inland and natural coastal wetlands over different time periods
n ¼ the number of records for each time period; s.d. ¼ standard deviation

Inland wetlands Coastal wetlands

Period n Average rate of change (%.y1) s.d. n Average rate of change (%.y1) s.d.

Long-term:
up to and including the 20th century 15 0.391 0.319 20 0.228 0.241
20th and early 21st century (start year):
1900–1944 10 0.853 0.393 8 0.721 0.590
1945–1974 25 1.483 1.728 10 0.930 0.555
1975–1989 11 1.625 1.435 17 1.103 1.134
1990 or later 13 0.479 0.851 3 0.924 0.761
all 20th–early 21st century 59 1.180 1.423 38 0.949 0.804

(two-sided): U ¼ 1024.5; z ¼ 5.297; P ¼ ,0.0001). Excluding Rates of loss of all natural wetlands in each of the time
site-scale records, the average rate of loss was 0.901%.y1 periods of the 20th and early 21st centuries were considerably
(n ¼ 88), also significantly faster than the equivalent long-term faster than long-term rates (Table 1, Fig. 2): between 1.9 times
rate (M–W U-test (two-sided): U ¼ 876; z ¼ 2.52; P ¼ 0.0117). (for 1990 onwards) and 4.6 times (for 1945 onwards). The
Rates of loss were significantly faster than the long-term rates of average rate of loss was highest (1.363%.y1) in the third
loss for both inland natural wetlands (M–W U-test (two-sided): quarter of the 20th century, when there was also the highest
U ¼ 642; z ¼ 2.28; P ¼ 0.0226) and coastal natural wetlands percentage (61%) of reported losses occurring at a high
(M–W U-test (two-sided): U ¼ 792.5; z ¼ 4.86; P ¼ ,0.0001) (.1.0%.y1) average annual rate of loss (Table 1). Average
(Table 2). loss rates continued to be almost as fast (1.308%.y1) in the
Comparing the rate of loss in the 20th–early 21st century with last quarter of the century (1975 onwards), but slowed after 1990
long-term rates of loss (Table 1), natural wetlands have been lost (0.565%.y1) (Table 1). Rates of loss were consistently higher
during the last 100 years at a 3.7 times faster rate than in the long for natural inland than natural coastal wetlands for the periods
term. Although in the 20th–early 21st century the rate of loss of from 1900 through to the 1980s, but whereas the average rate of
coastal natural wetlands was still slightly lower than that of loss of inland wetlands then slowed considerably, a rapid rate of
inland natural wetlands (Table 2), the relative increase in their loss continued for coastal wetlands (Table 2, Fig. 2).
rate of loss was greater, such that coastal wetlands were being Wetland losses have occurred during the 20th and early 21st
lost 4.2 times faster and inland wetlands 3.0 times faster than in centuries in all regions of the world (Table 3). Rates of loss of
the long term. all natural wetlands differed significantly between regions
938 Marine and Freshwater Research N. C. Davidson

Inland Coastal All Asia Europe North America

1990 onwards

1990 onwards

1990 onwards
1990 onwards

1990 onwards

1990 onwards

1900–1944
1945–1974
1975–1989

1900–1944
1945–1974
1975–1989

1900–1944
1945–1974
1975–1989
Long-term

Long-term

Long-term
1900–1944
1945–1974
1975–1989

1900–1944
1945–1974
1975–1989

1900–1944
1945–1974
1975–1989
Long-term

Long-term

Long-term
0.5 0.5

0 0

Rate of wetland area change (% change.y⫺1)

⫺0.5
Rate of wetland area change (% change.y⫺1)

⫺0.5

⫺1.0
⫺1.0

⫺1.5
⫺1.5

⫺2.0
⫺2.0
⫺2.5
⫺2.5
⫺3.0
⫺3.0
⫺3.5

⫺3.5
⫺4.0

⫺4.0
⫺4.5

Fig. 3. Annual rates of change (%.y1) of natural wetlands for different

⫺5.0 regions during different periods of the 20th and early 21st century, compared
with earlier long-term rates of change. There were too few records for other
Fig. 2. Annual rates of change (%.y1) of natural wetland types during time periods or other regions (Africa, the Neotropics, Oceania) to calculate
different parts of the 20th and early 21st century, compared with earlier long- comparable rates of change. Horizontal bar: mean; shaded box: Standard
term rates. The ‘all wetlands’ category includes inland, coastal and unspeci- Deviation; vertical line: range.
fied natural wetland types. Horizontal bar: mean; shaded box: Standard
Deviation; vertical line: range.
(Kruskal–Wallis one-way analysis of variance: K ¼ 5; H ¼
15.94; d.f. ¼ 4; P ¼ 0.0031). Rates of loss were slowest in North
Table 3. Rates of change in the area of natural wetlands in different America and fastest in the Neotropics and Asia. Regional
regions during the 20th and early 21st centuries differences in rates of loss were also significant for inland
n ¼ the number of records; s.d. ¼ Standard Deviation natural wetlands (Africa, Asia, Europe and North America
only): K ¼ 4, H ¼ 9.81; d.f. 3; P ¼ 0.0203 (with slowest rates
Region n Average rate of s.d. in North America and fastest in Africa and Asia), but not quite
change (%.y1)
significant for coastal natural wetlands (between Asia, Europe
Africa: and North America): K ¼ 3; H ¼ 5.44; d.f. 2; P ¼ 0.0659.
All wetlands 10 0.927 1.260 The temporal pattern of rates of loss through the 20th and early
Asia: 21st centuries varied regionally (Fig. 3). In Europe rates differed
Inland wetlands 16 1.885 1.872 significantly (K ¼ 3, H ¼ 16.49, d.f. 2, P ¼ 0.0003), with partic-
Coastal wetlands 12 1.102 0.488 ularly high rates in the period from 1945 onward but much slower
All wetlands 28 1.515 1.494 for the 1990s onward. In North America, rates were consistently
Europe:
lower than in Asia and Europe, and did not vary significantly
Inland wetlands 26 1.027 0.912
Coastal wetlands 17 0.986 0.625
during the 20th century (K ¼ 3, H ¼ 1.83, d.f. 2, P ¼ 0.4005).
All wetlands 50 1.057 0.767 Rates of loss in Asia have been consistently high (and not
Neotropics (Caribbean, Central significantly different: K ¼ 3, H ¼ 0.01, d.f. 2, P ¼ 0.995) across
and South America): the different time periods of the 20th and early 21st centuries.
All wetlands 7 1.956 1.639 Particularly high rates of loss (.1.5%.y 1) since 1975 have
North America: been reported for both inland and coastal wetlands in China,
Inland wetlands 7 0.347 0.504 tropical peatswamp forest in Borneo and inland wetlands in part
Coastal wetlands 7 0.508 0.368 of New Zealand.
All wetlands 14 0.428 0.432 Most reports of losses of natural wetlands for the 20th–early
Oceania (incl. Australasia):
21st centuries were for less than the full time period (Table 1).
All wetlands 4 1.062 1.799
Extrapolating from the average rates of wetland loss for the
Global wetland loss Marine and Freshwater Research 939

different time periods of the 20th century (from Table 1), A similar extrapolation for wetland area at the start of the 19th
suggests that only 29.4% of wetlands present in 1900 AD may century suggests that only 16.9% remained at the end of the 20th
have remained by the end of the century – a loss of 70.6%, with a century – a loss of 83.1% since 1800 AD.
loss of 63.0% of coastal natural wetlands and 75.0% for inland
natural wetlands. The extent of loss has varied between regions, Discussion
with extrapolated losses of 83.7% for Asia (66.7% since 1945), This assessment of the extent of global wetland losses confirms
71.0% for Europe and 36.5% for North America. that conversion and loss of natural wetlands has been long-term
The figures are similar but slightly lower when site-scale and widespread, and is continuing in all parts of the world
records are excluded: an average natural wetland loss of 34.9% (excluding Antarctica, for which the only record located was for
(n ¼ 86) for an average period of 39.2 years; and a 20th century peatlands and reported little change (Joosten 2009)). Historical
64.0% loss extrapolated from average rates of loss in each time (long-term) reports indicate a loss of 54–57% of the world’s
period (62.0% for coastal wetlands and 68.8% for inland wetlands – exceeding the widely stated but unsubstantiated
wetlands). figure of 50% – but may have been much greater than this, with a
These continuing losses of natural inland and coastal wetlands loss of 87% of natural wetland area since the start of the 18th
contrast with increases in human-made (artificial) wetlands (as century.
also noted earlier in Swift 1964) (see Supplementary Material). In The rate of loss of natural wetlands accelerated progressively
Europe, open waters increased by 4.4% between 1990 and 2006, from before the 18th century to a peak in the second half of the
attributed mostly to the creation of reservoirs and other artificial 20th century. Similarly, a progressively accelerating rate of loss
water bodies (EEA 2010). In China, in the 30 years between 1978 of intertidal estuarine wetlands in the United Kingdom between
and 2008, while natural inland wetlands decreased in area by 33%, the 16th and 20th centuries was reported by Davidson (2013).
artificial inland wetlands increased by 122% (Niu et al. 2012); in Natural wetland conversion and loss in the 20th and early 21st
the USA, the area of restored and created ponds increased by 12% centuries has happened at a much faster rate (3.7 times) than
between 1985 and 2004 (Dahl 2006); and the global area of rice previously, with the overall loss of wetlands since 1900 AD
paddy harvested increased by 41.5% between 1961 and 2012 being considerably more than the unsubstantiated ‘50% loss
(FAOSTAT http://faostat.fao.org, accessed 10 July 2014). since 1900’. From this study, 20th century losses have been
64–71% of the wetland area present in 1900 AD, and for some
Overall natural wetland loss since the start of the regions, notably Asia, even higher.
18th century Losses of natural inland wetlands have been consistently
Reported long-term loss of natural wetlands averaged 54–57%, greater, and at faster rates, than of natural coastal wetlands. For
but overall losses may have been much greater than these values. such inland wetlands, losses were 57–61% in the long term and
Extrapolation from the average rates of wetland loss since the 69–75% for the 20th century. This compares with 46–50%
start of the 18th century (from Table 1) suggests that of the long-term and 62–63% 20th century losses of coastal natural
wetland area existing in 1700 AD, 76.3% remained in 1800 AD wetlands.
and 44.1% in 1900 AD, but only 13.0% at the end of the 20th While the rate of loss of natural inland wetlands has slowed
century (Fig. 4) – an overall loss of 87.0% since 1700 AD. since the 1980s, the rate of loss of natural coastal wetlands has
remained high, with the overall relative rate of loss of coastal
100 wetlands during the 20th and early 21st centuries being 4.2 times
faster than in the long term, compared with 3.0 times faster for
inland wetlands.
Whereas these figures show a major loss of natural wetland
% natural wetland area remaining

80
area, some conversion of natural wetlands will have been to
other, human-made, types of wetlands such as rice paddies,
aquaculture ponds and reservoirs, so that global losses of all
60
types of wetland will be lower than reported here. However, the
extent of conversion to human-made wetlands is hard to assess
given the available information.
40 The precise extents and rates of wetland losses reported here
are influenced by the spatial scale of the data in published reports,
with larger extents and faster rates of loss from reports from
20
specific wetland sites than those from assessments of larger
areas. The reasons why are not clear, but studies at large spatial
scales are more likely to include both wetlands that have been
converted and those that have not. It is also possible that
0 researchers have focussed their attention, at least in publications,
1700 1750 1800 1850 1900 1950 2000
Year
on those wetlands that are known to have been partially or wholly
converted and lost, and/or are under threat of further conversion,
Fig. 4. The percentage remaining of the natural wetland area at the start of rather than those wetlands that have remained unchanged.
the 18th century (1700 AD). Values are extrapolated from the average rates The figures presented here are also likely be affected by
of wetland loss in Table 1. geographical bias in the numbers of published reports found for
940 Marine and Freshwater Research N. C. Davidson

different regions of the world, with most being from Asia, raised questions about the extent or effectiveness of national
Europe and North America. There is a dearth of published implementation of the Convention.
reports of wetland area change for Africa, the Neotropics and The present study has revealed that: wetland conversion and
Oceania, as has been found in other studies of wetland baseline loss in the long term was in excess of 50% and as much as 87%
inventory and change (Finlayson and Davidson 1999; Burke since the beginning of the 18th century; wetland loss was almost
et al. 2000; van Asselen et al. 2013). four times faster in the 20th century than previously, with losses of
There is an urgent need for further attention to be paid to up to 70% of wetlands existing in 1900 AD; conversion of coastal
wetland inventories and analyses of change in wetland areas, natural wetlands accelerated more than that of inland natural
particularly in Africa, the Neotropics and Oceania. Also, some wetlands in the 20th century; and conversion and loss is continu-
types of wetland are not well represented in the dataset sourced ing in all parts of the world, and particularly rapidly in Asia. The
for the present study: there is little information (of even baseline fate of the world’s remaining wetlands is very uncertain.
area from global wetland inventories and mapping) on ephem-
eral or intermittently flooded wetlands, such as wet meadows Acknowledgements
and arid and semiarid zone shallow depressions. There is also a I am most grateful to Maria Grazia Bellio, David Coates, Nicola Crockford,
lack of data for areas, and especially for trends, for some of the Linda Davidson, Matthew Dixon, C. Max Finlayson, Jonathon Loh,
world’s major flooded forest areas, such as those in the Amazon Ed Maltby, Randy Milton, Crawford Prentice, David Stroud, Denis
and Congo (see e.g. Finlayson et al. 1999; Maltchik 2003; Whigham and two anonymous referees for invaluable help, information,
Keddy et al. 2009). comments and advice on earlier drafts of this paper.
It is regrettable that other publications could not be included
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