Old Wisdom On Contemporary Issues: Heritage Wetland Management and Industry

World Wetlands Day 2026 features a theme that intertwines indigenous people and their natural environment: “Wetlands and traditional knowledge: Celebrating cultural heritage.”

In an era of high-tech carbon capture and complex offset schemes, it feels whimsical to look backwards. But those in land management, construction, and utilities are finding that the “old ways” – honed over centuries of people working with nature – can offer effective tools for long-term climate resilience.

Proven nature-based solutions (NbS) are entering the mainstream; we are reviving a cultural heritage of wetland management that we nearly lost.

The Return of the “Water Meadow”

For centuries, British agriculture relied on “drowning” meadows—deliberately flooding land in winter to enrich it with river silt. It was a masterpiece of traditional hydraulic engineering, balancing nutrients between soil and water.

This ancient wisdom is returning in the “catchment management” initiatives of Water Companies, which work with landowners, farmers and agencies to restore natural floodplains and wetlands. The next AMP8 investment cycle is poised to deliver larger, more ambitious partnerships – with nature at their heart.

Operational Efficiencies:

• Lowers energy demand
• Treatment load is minimised
• Steadies the inflow
• ‘Polishes’ the water quality and allows natural nutrient absorption

Wetlands and reedbeds enhance water quality. The “slow the flow” approach—using wetlands to naturally filter water—can be a cost-effective complement to building new treatment works. Chemical use is minimised when raw water arrives cleaner, and wetlands mitigate the flood-to-drought pattern we’ve seen developing over the past few years.

Primary industries such as water, quarrying, and farming are restoring the 18th-century ‘Constable-Gainsborough scenery’ – healthy rivers, wetlands, pastoral grazing and traditional hay meadows. The government may be switching from carrots to sticks – their revised EIP (Environmental Improvement Plan) promises that “stronger regulation will … support farmers to drive down pollution” – but Water Companies are increasingly supporting these farmers financially and operationally. Nearly every Water company is investing heavily in local partnerships and supporting farmers and wildlife trusts with payments or grants for environmental work.

Quarries: The New Custodians of the Old Landscape

Perhaps the most significant stewardship work over the past few decades is in the extractive industry. Quarry restoration is not simply “hole-filling”; it restores sites to a higher biodiversity than before extraction began.

Companies like Tarmac and Hargreaves Services are pivotal in recreating lost wetland landscapes. There are over 100 nature parks, such as Panshanger Park and Holborough Marshes, where fenland and wet-meadow habitats have been created – restoring heritage largely lost during the Industrial Revolution and subsequent demographic changes. According to the Mineral Products Association (MPA), its members had created or restored 8,300ha of land to high-quality biodiversity sites by 2021, with another 11,000ha planned.

Mineral companies aim to create “priority habitats” based on the site’s geological and cultural heritage, and many have been designated due to their newfound ecological and cultural value.

Science Catching Up with Tradition

Modern research validates what our ancestors knew instinctively. Recent studies by the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) show that reinstating traditional pond management—specifically, removing mud sediment and tree shading—can double bird species counts compared with leaving ponds “wild” and unmanaged.

This is the core lesson for managing wetlands in built-up Britain: Passive conservation isn’t enough. Our wetlands are cultural landscapes that have evolved through sustainable human interaction with nature. Many wetlands need the grazier, the reed-cutter, and the woodland manager to thrive – and today these people rely on the financial and practical backing of responsible and ethical companies.

A Call to Action for 2026

Whether you are a developer looking at Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG), a farmer exploring ELMs, or a water company planning for AMP8, the message is clear:

Innovation isn’t all new technology.

Sometimes, it means looking at how a floodplain was managed in 1826 and applying those proven methods today. Maybe our ancestors had the right idea after all.