ABSTRACT
It is often difficult to explain the importance of wetlands for economic development since these are places filled with water and, apparently, without immediate utility. In this paper, we will bring light to some aspects related to mangroves, salt marshes, and peatlands in Brazil. From the complexities involving wetlands definition and proper location all throughout the country, the worldwide importance of Brazilian Mangroves which could sum-up to nearly 8% of world area of this ecosystem, to the importance of salt marshes to carbon sequestration and its storage into the ocean’s deep-waters and the peat soils (Organossolos) distributed in the entire continental area of the country, from low coastal areas (0 m) to mountains regions (2000 m), from northern-tropical to southern-temperate climates, we will seek to pinpoint some threats to these fragile environments, the controversy regarding their proper quantification and some possibilities for future research.
