Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary

The field trip to the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary provided me with first hand experience on how wetlands work and the variety of wildlife that live there. I enjoyed seeing the abundance of animals; alligators, raccoons, woodpeckers, ibis, and many more birds. There was also a variety of plant life;, cypresses, pine trees, mangroves, and sawgrass. I think my favorite part of the Big Cypress swamp was seeing all the different types of wildlife that inhabited the area. It's amazing that there are so many species of plant and animal life in the swamp. I never realized the beauty and importance of the wetlands. While i have been on air boat rides in the everglades, the sanctuary is different because it is silent, allowing you to really take everything in on another level. It makes me happy that we have preserves like the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary because it not only preserves the land and water but the life that inhabit it.

Wetlands like the everglades are very important because they are home to many different species of plants and animals. If we were to clear land to build on the everglades we would be displacing thousands of plant and animal life which would ultimately lead to endangerment and possibly extinction. Preserves like the sanctuary help manage water, especially storm water. This management of water helps protect and preserve water quality. Watersheds play a major role in wetlands like the sanctuary because they help divide the wetlands from other bodies of water. This helps with water quality. According to our book State of the World "with rapid growth in demand for water and with water scarcity looming in many countries watershed revegetation is now getting serious policy attention" (Sherr, Sthapit, 44). Therefore, preserves like the sanctuary help preserve wetlands and watersheds which will ultimately become a necessity for survival in our future. We must change our ways due to the changing climate, but we also must preserve what we already have.