ABSTRACT
Although often regarded as wastelands in the past, wetlands are today gradually being recognized as one of the world's most valuable ecosystems in terms of the ecological, hydrological and socio-economic roles they fulfil in their natural state (Maltby, 1986; Dugan, 1990; Roggeri, 1998). Their ability to perform and support such a wide range of functions and products has, however, largely been ignored by developers and planners who have regarded the development and exploitation of wetlands as a means of transforming 'wastelands' into economically beneficial and productive areas (Hughes, 1992). Rather than appreciating the fragile interdependency of components of natural wetland systems, and the associated benefits linked to each, wetland development has followed a technocratic approach geared towards narrow economic gain. Consequently, the result in many of the world's wetlands has been the exploitation of one wetland function or product at the cost of others.
