Cultural Heritage E04

The cultural heritage of wetlands
Working
in wetlands – the tools
of the trade
W
etlands present a challenging environment
for people. They are often physically difficult
environments to live and work in, and the diseases
frequently associated with wetlands, such as malaria
and bilharzia, add another dimension of difficulty. But
in exchange they offer their great wealth of water, a
diversity of natural resources that provide food, fibre,
medicines and shelter, and usually a high level of pro-
ductivity – a compelling combination for sustaining
human populations.
Exploiting the natural resources of wetlands has
ROGER LEGUEN /RAMSAR
called forth the creative talents of people for millennia,

with their need to develop special tools and housing
as well as modes of transport for fishing, hunting, salt
Traditional fishing in the Parque Nacional de los Roques,
extraction, agricultural activities, and forestry. This has a Ramsar site in Venezuela.
fostered a rich and diverse cultural heritage in the
form of walkways, working tools, houses – and boats.
Common characteristics of boats in the wetland of craft have been in use for hundreds of years, built
environment are their shallow draft and rounded by skilled artisans who pass on their skills to the next
sterns. Prehistoric Native American canoes found generation.
on Lake Newman in Florida (USA) are a good exam- Fishing is a primary activity in wetlands and is
ple - the Seminole Indians, excellent boat builders, associated not only with effectively designed boats,
called this lake Pithlachocco, which means “place of but also with an immense range of capture tools – nets
wide boats”. In southeast Asia, and traps predominate, ranging from gill nets, seine
canals, deltas and rivers are nets and cast nets to permanently constructed traps in
“Exploiting the the habitat for a great diversity lakes, rivers and estuaries as well as smaller, movable
natural resources of of boats (sampans, barges, traps. Again, the design and construction reflect local
etc.) that serve as housing and water conditions and available materials as well as the
wetlands has called
shops as well as for the more characteristics of the species being exploited.
forth the creative traditional uses such as fishing Living in an aquatic environment has presented
talents of people for and transportation. Striking ex- an additional challenge in terms of building materials
millennia.” amples of this are found in Hong and design. In the Orinoco delta, Venezuela, wetland
Kong in China, and in Thailand. plants are used for constructing the houses of the
On the lakes of the Andean Waraos, whose name means “marsh inhabitants”.
region, the totora reed is used Houses built upon stilts as an adaptation for aquatic
to make boats often called “reed living have evolved in many parts of the world, from
horses” (caballitos de totora) as well as to weave the bamboo houses in Inle Lake in Myanmar to those
objects for everyday domestic use, such as baskets constructed with Nibong palm or mangrove wood in
and mats. And of course an equal diversity of craft is the small islands and coastal inlets in southeast Asia,
found in shallow coastal waters, a diversity which is to those using forest timber and palm thatching in the
a reflection of local water conditions as well as avail- flooded forests of the Amazon. In the latter, water
ability of local materials for construction; many types levels can increase by as much as 10-12 metres in
some areas in the wet season, and here local people
also build floating houses to accommodate the dra-
matic changes in water levels. As a further adapta-
tion to aquatic life, they have created floating veg-
etable gardens, a practice recorded in Mexico in the
14th century where the Aztec/Mexicas nomadic tribe
(who later created the Aztec empire) used floating
gardens in Lake Texcoco; this technique is still used
in other parts of the world too, for example, on Dal
Lake in Kashmir and on Inle Lake in Myanmar.
There is an important cultural heritage in the
permanent structures that have been associated with
wetlands, and several major cities, such as Bangkok,
DWIGHT PECK
Venice, Amsterdam, and part of Caracas have been
built upon them. In these urban/wetland landscapes,
Several major cities, such as Bangkok, Amsterdam, part of Caracas
canals blend in with temples, palaces and houses. and here, Venice, are built on wetlands.
Exploitation of salt has led to the creation of ports,
docks and warehouses that date from the Roman
period or the Middle Ages in many coastal marshes people have been physically displaced by dams and
in the Mediterranean. Management of the water countless others affected in different ways. Indigenous
resource itself, as well as the need for efficient com- and tribal people have suffered disproportionately from
munication, has also created a broad range of water- the negative impacts of large dams which have often
related structures. Around the great rivers, such as seriously impacted their lives, livelihoods, cultures, and
the Nile, Tigris, Euphrates, and Hwang-Ho (the Yellow spiritual existence. Cultural heritage impacts are still
River), former civilizations created systems of dams, largely ignored in the planning process for dams and
dykes and canals in order to use the water most at this moment controversy continues in several coun-
efficiently, a practice observed in many other parts of tries in Africa, Asia and the Neotropics over plans to
the world as well, sometimes to the detriment of the build dams that may destroy local lifestyles and their
wetland environment. associated traditions.
Dams have been the focus of attention in recent Living and working in a wetland environment
years following the intense period of dam building in has produced an amazingly diverse heritage of tra-
the latter half of the 20th century. In the 30 years from ditions and material products. Today’s pace of eco-
1950 to 1980, no fewer than 35,000 large dams were nomic development is a constant threat to this cul-
built around the world. A recent report by the World tural heritage, and the challenge now is to develop
Commission on Dams estimates that 40-80 million management strategies that will ensure its survival.
The Ramsar Bureau

Rue Mauverney 28
CH-1196 Gland
Switzerland
Tel.: +41 22 999 0170
Fax: +41 22 999 0169
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: http://ramsar.org

Cultural Heritage E04

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The cultural heritage of wetlands

called forth the creative talents of people for millennia,

The Ramsar Bureau

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