RAMSAR

Wetlands Reserve – RAMSAR World Heritage site

Get impressed by the spectacular flora and fauna in the wetlands areas around the Nature Reserve Volcano Cosigüina and Estero Real. The community constructed a nice trail that leads through the so-called “Humedales”. You will see many resident and migratory birds, such as the Blue- and White Egret, Blue Heron and King Fisher as well as crustaceans like crabs and also small mammals which live among Bromeliads, Red- and Black Mangroves and Mexican Palm trees. Our guide will give you firsthand information about endemic plants and animals.

What are wetlands?

Wetlands are areas where water is the primary factor controlling the environment and the associated plant and animal life. They occur where the water table is at or near the surface of the land, or where the land is covered by water. Wetlands occur everywhere, from the tundra to the tropics. How much of the earth’s surface is presently composed of wetlands is not known exactly. The UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre has suggested an estimate of about 570 million hectares (5.7 million km2) – roughly 6% of the Earth’s land. Mangroves cover some 240,000 km2 of coastal area, and an estimated 600,000 km2 of coral reefs remain worldwide.

Why conserve wetlands?

Wetlands are among the world’s most productive environments. They are cradles of biological diversity, providing the water and primary productivity upon which countless species of plants and animals depend for survival. They support high concentrations of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish and invertebrate species. Wetlands are also important storehouses of plant genetic material. Rice, for example, which is a common wetland plant, is the staple diet of more than half of humanity.

Wetland values

Wetlands provide tremendous economic benefits, for example: water supply (quantity and quality); fisheries (over two thirds of the world’s fish harvest is linked to the health of coastal and inland wetland areas); agriculture, through the maintenance of water tables and nutrient retention in floodplains; timber production; energy resources, such as peat and plant matter; wildlife resources; transport; and recreation and tourism opportunities.

In addition, wetlands have special attributes as part of the cultural heritage of humanity: they are related to religious and cosmological beliefs, constitute a source of aesthetic inspiration, provide wildlife sanctuaries and form the basis of important local traditions.

These functions, values and attributes can only be maintained if the ecological processes of wetlands are allowed to continue functioning. Unfortunately, and in spite of important progress made in recent decades, wetlands continue to be among the world’s most threatened ecosystems, owing mainly to ongoing drainage, conversion, pollution, and over-exploitation of their resources.

The international importance of the wetlands of Cosigüina

The wetlands of Cosigüina is of international importance because it plays a significant hydrological, biological and ecological role in the natural functioning of the water basin to which it belongs. It is the largest river in the Pacific coast of Nicaragua and is of great importance for the protection of the coasts and surrounding ecosystems. It captures rainwater reaching the water basin from freshwater rivers. It protects animal species, whose reproductive cycle directly depends on the existence of mangroves found only in ecosystems of this type.

Estero Real sustains large numbers of specimens of certain groups of waterfowl, which are indicators of the values, productivity or diversity of the wetlands and it is habitat to endangered or vulnerable species such as the garrobo (Ctenosaura sp.), iguanas (Iguana sp.) and the boa constrictor (Boa constrictor), distributed throughout the whole ecosystem, as well as to the largest and healthiest populations of the American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus), which are seriously endangered.