189
11.3 The Wetland Scientifi c
Literature: Literary
Reference to Wetlands
With all the valuable uses, without mentioning
the aesthetics of a landscape in which water and
land often provide a striking panorama, one may
expect wetlands to be revered by humanity. This
has certainly not always been the case. Wetlands,
sometimes, had been depicted as sinister and forbidding and as having little economic value. For
example, in the Divine Comedy , Dante described
a marsh of the Styx in Upper Hell as the fi nal
resting place for the wrathful:
Thus we pursed our path round a wide arc of that
ghast pool,
Between the soggy marsh and arid shore,
Still eyeing those who gulp the marish (Marsh)
foul.
Dante Alighieri
Centuries later, Carolus Linnaeus, crossing
the Lapland peatlands, compared that region to
that same Styx of Hell:
Shortly afterwards began the muskegs, which
mostly stood under water; these we had to cross for
miles; think with what misery, every step up to our
knees. The whole of this land of the Lapps was
mostly muskeg, hinc vocavi Styx . Never can the
priest so describe hell, because it is no worse.
Never have poets been able to picture Styx so foul,
since that is no fouler.
Carl Linnaeus, 1732
Even people who study and have been associated with wetlands have been belittled in literature. For example:
Hardy went down to botanise in the swamp, while
Meredith climbed towards the sun. Meredith
became, at his best, a sort of daintly dressed Walt
Whitman: Hardy became a sort of village atheist
brooding and blaspheming over the village idiot.
In addition to the above, the English language
is fi lled with words which suggest negative
images of wetlands. We get bogged down in
detail; we are swamped with work.
Hollywood has continued the depiction of the
sinister and foreboding nature of wetlands and
their inhabitants, in the tradition of Grendel, with
movies, such as the classic, Creature from the
Black Lagoon (1954).
The drainage and destruction of wetlands were
the accepted practices in the USA prior to the mid1970s. These were even encouraged by specifi c
government policies. Wetlands were transformed
into agricultural fi elds. They were also converted
for commercial and residential developments. The
precious resource would have been endangered for
extinction had this trend continued. A case has
been made for the wetlands as a valuable resource
only through the combined activities and efforts of
the anglers and hunters, scientists and engineers,
lawyers and environmentalists and so on. It has
been pointed out that destruction of wetlands
could lead to economic, ecological and aesthetic
consequences for the nations of the world. This
increased level of respect in the US public policy
for the wetlands was fi rst refl ected in the activities,
such as the sale of federal ‘duck stamps’ to waterfowl hunters which began in 1934. Other countries, like New Zealand (NZ), had followed suit.
About 1.8 million ha of wetlands were preserved
as waterfowl habitat during 1995 by the US duck
stamp programme alone. A number of other varieties of wetland protection programmes are now
supported by the federal government. Further,
individual states have also enacted wetland protection laws or have used existing statutes to preserve
these valuable resources. Signifi cantly, the interest
which had blossomed in the USA during the late
1970s has now spread around the world.
International programmes, such as the Ramsar
Convention, have arisen out of the efforts of the
NGOs who are dedicated to preserving the wetlands. However, the wetlands may remain as a
misunderstood or less understood ecosystem to
many people as long as they remain somewhat
more diffi cult to stroll through than a forest or
more diffi cult to cross by a boat than a lake.
11.3.1 The Wetland Scientifi c
Literature
There has been increasing interest and emphasis
on wetland science. The management of wetlands
has been demonstrated by a veritable fl ood of
11.3 The Wetland Scientifi c Literature: Literary Reference to Wetlands
11.3 The Wetland Scientifi c
Literature: Literary
Reference to Wetlands
With all the valuable uses, without mentioning
the aesthetics of a landscape in which water and
land often provide a striking panorama, one may
expect wetlands to be revered by humanity. This
has certainly not always been the case. Wetlands,
sometimes, had been depicted as sinister and forbidding and as having little economic value. For
example, in the Divine Comedy , Dante described
a marsh of the Styx in Upper Hell as the fi nal
resting place for the wrathful:
Thus we pursed our path round a wide arc of that
ghast pool,
Between the soggy marsh and arid shore,
Still eyeing those who gulp the marish (Marsh)
foul.
Dante Alighieri
Centuries later, Carolus Linnaeus, crossing
the Lapland peatlands, compared that region to
that same Styx of Hell:
Shortly afterwards began the muskegs, which
mostly stood under water; these we had to cross for
miles; think with what misery, every step up to our
knees. The whole of this land of the Lapps was
mostly muskeg, hinc vocavi Styx . Never can the
priest so describe hell, because it is no worse.
Never have poets been able to picture Styx so foul,
since that is no fouler.
Carl Linnaeus, 1732
Even people who study and have been associated with wetlands have been belittled in literature. For example:
Hardy went down to botanise in the swamp, while
Meredith climbed towards the sun. Meredith
became, at his best, a sort of daintly dressed Walt
Whitman: Hardy became a sort of village atheist
brooding and blaspheming over the village idiot.
In addition to the above, the English language
is fi lled with words which suggest negative
images of wetlands. We get bogged down in
detail; we are swamped with work.
Hollywood has continued the depiction of the
sinister and foreboding nature of wetlands and
their inhabitants, in the tradition of Grendel, with
movies, such as the classic, Creature from the
Black Lagoon (1954).
The drainage and destruction of wetlands were
the accepted practices in the USA prior to the mid1970s. These were even encouraged by specifi c
government policies. Wetlands were transformed
into agricultural fi elds. They were also converted
for commercial and residential developments. The
precious resource would have been endangered for
extinction had this trend continued. A case has
been made for the wetlands as a valuable resource
only through the combined activities and efforts of
the anglers and hunters, scientists and engineers,
lawyers and environmentalists and so on. It has
been pointed out that destruction of wetlands
could lead to economic, ecological and aesthetic
consequences for the nations of the world. This
increased level of respect in the US public policy
for the wetlands was fi rst refl ected in the activities,
such as the sale of federal ‘duck stamps’ to waterfowl hunters which began in 1934. Other countries, like New Zealand (NZ), had followed suit.
About 1.8 million ha of wetlands were preserved
as waterfowl habitat during 1995 by the US duck
stamp programme alone. A number of other varieties of wetland protection programmes are now
supported by the federal government. Further,
individual states have also enacted wetland protection laws or have used existing statutes to preserve
these valuable resources. Signifi cantly, the interest
which had blossomed in the USA during the late
1970s has now spread around the world.
International programmes, such as the Ramsar
Convention, have arisen out of the efforts of the
NGOs who are dedicated to preserving the wetlands. However, the wetlands may remain as a
misunderstood or less understood ecosystem to
many people as long as they remain somewhat
more diffi cult to stroll through than a forest or
more diffi cult to cross by a boat than a lake.
11.3.1 The Wetland Scientifi c
Literature
There has been increasing interest and emphasis
on wetland science. The management of wetlands
has been demonstrated by a veritable fl ood of
11.3 The Wetland Scientifi c Literature: Literary Reference to Wetlands