South Africa's wetlands play a key role in climate change mitigation and disaster risk reduction, writes Alanna Rebelo. Part of the answer to surviving climate change may be South Africa's wetlands.

It was August 26, 2020. Dirlene Mejía, a park ranger who works in the area around Concepción Lake, a protected area located in eastern Bolivia, had just left for her usual route.

South Africa’s vital wetlands are degrading faster than investment in their rehabilitation. As a result, they are facing catastrophic decline. This follows a global trend of wetland decline, a key finding in the new Global Wetland Outlook.

Agriculture is widely known to be the biggest driver of forest destruction globally, especially in sprawling, high-profile ecosystems like the Amazon rainforest.