Wetland are natural areas or site often generally referred to as swamps. These areas are equally habitats to both plants and animal species. Under international laws and conventions, they are protected areas.
Today, we find them around the world and more especially in developing countries being reclaimed for construction of houses with its consequences ignored such as floods especially during rainy periods, collapse of buildings, loss of biodiversity etc.
Firstly, these sites serves as a reservoirs to store excess water especially during several hours of prolonged serious rainfall.
But, today these sites have in recent times experienced reclamations, thereby reducing drainage channels, killing aquatic animals and destroying some plants that typical of these areas. As a result, this ecosystem is destroyed with effects being floods destroying properties, especially during periods of heavy and prolonged rainfall. Also, in future, these areas are risky zones and may tend force buildings to develop cracks, sink or even collapse thus injurious to occupants, or even deaths as destruction of crops if used for agricultural purposes.
This will become a burden unto the government as resource used to support the affected persons would have been used in other development projects. Thus government, should endeavour to restrict the reclamation of these sites for whatsoever purpose.