In many coastal places, coastal wetlands have been drained and converted to agricultural land (a process often also called reclamation). But the names for the infrastructure that creates them, and the resulting landscapes, vary widely. For instance, here in Nova Scotia, Canada, the barrier is usually called a dyke (or dike), penetrated every so often by aboiteaux (one way gates that let fresh water out but prevent sea water coming in), and the agricultural land behind is called dykeland or agricultural marshland, formed and ditched to facilitate drainage. But in the UK similar landscapes are called fenlands (at least in some places) and in the Netherlands polders. We are trying to compile a global glossary of similar landscapes. Can you help us find other such terms where you live or work? Article Understanding multifunctional Bay of Fundy dykelands and tid...
Hi Sherren,
You have pointed out the matter very rightly and interestingly. As it is a global phenomena, it will be varied by nature, but the initiative is appreciable. In India, especially in West Bengal it is mostly known as marshland (salt marshes, tidal marshes, riparian marshes) or mangrove swamps.
Hi Dr Kate Sherren . It is called dry land. Due to their productivity, wetlands are often converted into dry land with dykes and drains and used for agricultural purposes. See the link: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wetland
Also, see the following link: https://www.ramsar.org/sites/default/files/wwd14_leaflet_en.pdf
Kindly, see the following link too: Article Agricultural use of wetlands: Opportunities and limitations
In Spain and possibly in other Spanish-speaking countries, these coastal wetlands are called "marismas". Marismas are humid ecosystems with herbaceous plants that grow in the water. The water in a marsh can be only from the sea, although it is usually a mixture of marine and freshwater, called brackish (salinity
Thank you so much, colleagues, such as Carlos Rodríguez-Monroy and Biraj Kanti Mondal , but I am not looking for names for the wetlands when they are wet, but after they are drained or 'reclaimed' to become agricultural land.
Once the wetlands "Marismas" are drained or reclaimed for agricultural purposes, they are called "Marismas desecadas."
Thank you very much Carlos Rodríguez-Monroy . This is a great help. Google Translate suggests that in English this would be 'dessicated marshes'. Is that how you would translate the term if you were publishing in or translating to English?
Dear Kate,
'Dessicated marshes' is an adequate translation for the reclaimed wetlands. I will explore the existence of a more scientific term and let you know.
Theses are also called restored lands meaning restored for undertaking up agriculture.
Hi Kate,
In the Northern part of Belgium, we have a lot of this type of agricultural land. As the Dutch, we call it polder(s) as well. Polder is a Dutch word, which is at least 800 years old, actually dating from the first polders created in Belgium and Holland, by monks looking for additional arable land. Maybe the Dutch and Belgian polders are the oldest drained marshes and fluvial plains drained after dikes (dijken in Dutch) were constructed. After 'indijking' (constructing dikes) salt sea or brackish river water from the Schelde-Maas-Rhine Delta in Holland and Flanders was pumped out, later in history, using windmills. Roughly one third of the Netherlands, or maybe even more, consists of polders. In Belgium, it is only in the coastal plain and the Schelde river delta that polders occur. The soils in polders consists of very fertile clay. That made the low countries in Europe quite rich, during a lot of centuries in the past. Important cities developed because of food affluence in the Netherlands as well as in Belgium. Needless to state that Belgium was the scene of many wars fought by the large nations and powerful houses and emperors in Europe.
Needless to say that indirectly, polders were a part of the power play by European nations in the low countries, at sea (the Dutch) as well as on land (Belgium).
Maybe our name polders should be preferred?
Cheers
Thanks Bukola Olopade - is pocosins the name for the 'wet' wetland state, or the drained one (and if so where)? Also, I note you are in the UK: are all drained coastal ag lands there called fenlands, or only some?
Thanks also Sue Spaid for confirmation on and Frank Veroustraete for the rich context on the term polder, and sharing the fact of their distribution into Belgium.
Thanks also to Emmanuel V Murray : "restored lands" is quite value laden, and will certainly complicate our database searches. :) Would that be the term in India, or beyond?
Also kind thanks to Aref Wazwaz for the useful links, especially the Ramsar one.
Hi Kate,
Maybe the following link clarifies the concept of a polder as well.
Many countries use the name 'polder'.
URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polder
Cheers
Originally drainage ditches were constructed to remove water from land destined to serve as agricultural production acreage. Most often, these ditches ran from a wetland or marsh area to an aquatic receiving system.
Dear Kate Sherren, the more frequently used concepts in Spanish is 'Marismas desecadas' (dessicated wetlands) or 'Marismas recuperadas para la agricultura' (reclaimed marshes, or reclaimed wetlands). The latter is more frequently found in the specialized literature. The term polder is not used here. I hope this helps.
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