Episode 65

Let's Save The Wetlands

Episode Summary: In this episode, Jenn Swanson and Olabanji Stephen discuss the importance of preserving wetlands and marshes

Marshes and wetlands are disappearing everywhere around the globe. However, they play a role in absorbing carbon and host diverse animal species that cannot be found anywhere else. It is important to save wetlands and marshes for biodiversity and fight against climate change.

Olabanji shares a success story of the community organisation that lobbied against a project that aimed to build a road on the marshland. Thanks to the lobbying effort of the community a bridge was built instead, and the marshland was saved.

For more information on the project and to order your copy of the Carbon Almanac, visit thecarbonalmanac.org

Want to join in the conversation?

Visit thecarbonalmanac.org/podcasts and send us a voice message on this episode or any other climate-related ideas and perspectives.

Don’t Take Our Word For It, Look It Up!

You can find out more on pages 131, 229 and 232 of the Carbon Almanac and on the website you can tap the footnotes link and type in 080, 107 and 251

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Olabanji is from Lagos Nigeria, he’s a Creative Director and visual designer that helps brands gain clarity, deliver meaningful experiences and build tribes through Design & Strategy. He founded Jorney - a community designed to help people stay productive, accountable, and do their best work.

From Langley in British Columbia, Canada, Jenn is a Minister, Coach, Writer and Community Connector, helping people help themselves.  

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The CarbonSessions Podcast is produced and edited by Leekei Tang, Steve Heatherington and Rob Slater.

Transcript
Speaker:

Hi, I'm Emma.

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I live in his colon.

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Hi, I'm Jen and I'm from Canada.

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Hi,

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Oh, I'm leaky and I live in Paris.

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Okay.

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I'm Rob I'm from fruit.

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Welcome to carbon site.

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A podcast with carbon conversations for every day, with everyone, from

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everywhere in the world, in our conversations, we share ideas,

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So don't be shy and join our carbon sessions because it's not too late.

JENN:

Hi, I'm Jen.

OLABANJI:

Hi, I'm Aji, and we're talking about wetlands and marshes, . and,

OLABANJI:

and here's something that I, I, I found, I don't know, but it says in

OLABANJI:

the last, uh, few hundred years, more than half of the wetlands in the US

OLABANJI:

excluding Alaska and Hawaii have van.

JENN:

Oh, that's

OLABANJI:

According to the National Wetlands Research Center,

OLABANJI:

more than half have vanished.

OLABANJI:

And that's so sad.

JENN:

yeah.

JENN:

Wetlands are, are so vital because they're home to so many plants and animals that

JENN:

are not found anywhere else in the world.

JENN:

and wetlands provide food and clean water and protection for,

JENN:

for humans and animals and.

OLABANJI:

Well,

JENN:

I know that where I live in British Columbia, which is on the

JENN:

west coast of Canada, um, we have 5.28 million hectares or about 5%

JENN:

of the land base that are wetlands.

JENN:

Um, so where I live, there are a lot of wetlands.

OLABANJI:

Wow.

JENN:

Yeah.

OLABANJI:

Well that's, that's interesting.

OLABANJI:

And, and they're beautiful to see.

OLABANJI:

, they're beautiful to see.

OLABANJI:

The, the marshes, the mangroves, the, uh, the sws, the bailouts, there's

OLABANJI:

one around here, well, it's a little far from here, but, um, at some point

OLABANJI:

they were going to build a road over.

OLABANJI:

I mean, they were going to sand field and build roads on it.

OLABANJI:

It was so crazy.

OLABANJI:

I, I'm like, . I mean, they shouldn't do this.

OLABANJI:

So we, we lobbied for a bit and then they said, okay, there were Nobel roads again.

OLABANJI:

So instead the built bridge over it.

OLABANJI:

And that was a whole lot better than having to sand the and roads on there.

OLABANJI:

And I think there's a lot of that going on just because the marshes

OLABANJI:

are around places that could be developed, decide to just develop them.

OLABANJI:

I think development is one of the things that affect.

OLABANJI:

Uh, most of the marshes in, in the US and in many other parts of the world,

JENN:

Absolutely, absolutely.

JENN:

We have one, um, not too far from here, uh, called Burns

JENN:

Bog, and it is the Burns Bog.

JENN:

Nature Delta Nature Reserve, and it's the largest raised peat bog in Western Canada.

JENN:

It's got like 40 square kilometers of land and, and it's got something

JENN:

like 175 bird species and 11 amphibian species and 41 mammal species.

JENN:

And there's reptiles and walking trails

OLABANJI:

Wow.

OLABANJI:

Oh

JENN:

amazing.

JENN:

In one year it caught fire and that was because it's

JENN:

peat and so that was terrible.

JENN:

Um, it seems to have recovered, but was, it was a, a grass fire I

JENN:

guess that ended up getting into the peat and the peat lit on fire.

JENN:

Um,

OLABANJI:

Wow.

JENN:

but wetlands helped.

JENN:

To like, they help to filter water and they filter pollutants

JENN:

and they recharge groundwater.

JENN:

And they do so many things with, uh, with, gases and climate

JENN:

cycles, and they're so important.

JENN:

You can join a, a wetlands conservation group

OLABANJI:

That's a great idea.

OLABANJI:

That's one really great way to help.

OLABANJI:

\ , and, and I also think that , when the air pollution becomes too much, it starts

OLABANJI:

to affect, uh, the wetlands as well.

OLABANJI:

So I think another way to help.

OLABANJI:

Is, don't do air pollution, anything that's going to pollute the air.

OLABANJI:

Just don't do it.

OLABANJI:

Find greener ways to do it.

OLABANJI:

Um, and yeah, join, join the community.

OLABANJI:

We Save the marshes.

JENN:

I also think you can, if you're visiting one, um, if you see some trash

JENN:

on the ground, some garbage, pick it up.

JENN:

You know, and, \ they're very, usually there are signs posted to please not,

JENN:

you know, pick the flowers or , don't stray from the path, don't take any rocks

JENN:

because , all of these things protect and provide shelter for creatures.

OLABANJI:

Yeah.

OLABANJI:

Yeah, I totally agree.

OLABANJI:

I totally agree and I'm so joining one.

OLABANJI:

If I find any, , community here that works to save the world

OLABANJI:

land, I'm definitely joined.

JENN:

Yeah.

JENN:

Well, when you said people were rallying against filling in one of them and, and

JENN:

a bridge was built, um, that's fantastic.

JENN:

That's people saying, no, , save

OLABANJI:

Yeah.

OLABANJI:

Yeah.

JENN:

Yeah.

OLABANJI:

that's amazing.

JENN:

And if you've never visited one Look them up and see if you

JENN:

can find one, because they're absolutely beautiful places to visit

OLABANJI:

Yeah.

OLABANJI:

They have flowers, some of them have trees.

OLABANJI:

Um, and then you see flowers floating on water.

OLABANJI:

It's just really beautiful to work.

OLABANJI:

I mean, go check, go check them out, you know?

JENN:

It would be fun to compare what kind of creatures you

JENN:

have in in the ones near you,

OLABANJI:

Yeah,

JENN:

different creatures than we have here in Canada.

OLABANJI:

yeah, definitely.

OLABANJI:

I think some snakes, some i, I don't know, crocodiles and.

JENN:

Yeah.

OLABANJI:

mean, I've really not seen a crooked.

OLABANJI:

I think I've seen one at Brazil, but I've not seen it in its natural habitat.

OLABANJI:

. So

JENN:

Yeah, we don't have crocodiles here.

OLABANJI:

Wow.

JENN:

I'm glad.

JENN:

Well that's interesting about wetlands and marshes.

JENN:

Thanks all.

JENN:

Labonte,

OLABANJI:

Thank you so much and let's go save the wetland,

JENN:

Let's do it.

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When it comes to the climate, we don’t need more marketing or anxiety. We need established facts and a plan for collective action.

The climate is the fundamental issue of our time, and now we face a critical decision. Whether to be optimistic or fatalistic, whether to profess skepticism or to take action. Yet it seems we can barely agree on what is really going on, let alone what needs to be done. We urgently need facts, not opinions. Insights, not statistics. And a shift from thinking about climate change as a “me” problem to a “we” problem.

The Carbon Almanac is a once-in-a-lifetime collaboration between hundreds of writers, researchers, thinkers, and illustrators that focuses on what we know, what has come before, and what might happen next. Drawing on over 1,000 data points, the book uses cartoons, quotes, illustrations, tables, histories, and articles to lay out carbon’s impact on our food system, ocean acidity, agriculture, energy, biodiversity, extreme weather events, the economy, human health, and best and worst-case scenarios. Visually engaging and built to share, The Carbon Almanac is the definitive source for facts and the basis for a global movement to fight climate change.

This isn’t what the oil companies, marketers, activists, or politicians want you to believe. This is what’s really happening, right now. Our planet is in trouble, and no one concerned group, corporation, country, or hemisphere can address this on its own. Self-interest only increases the problem. We are in this together. And it’s not too late to for concerted, collective action for change.