Swamplands by Ed Struzik is a book of ecological urgency that stages a tour of the world’s most extensive fens, bogs, and swamps with the intention of highlighting their importance to human health.
Interviewing scientists, activists, and storytellers from Yellowknife to Kauai, Struzik paints a clear picture of the vitality of wetlands in providing natural water filtration, wildfire barriers and carbon storage. With the number and size of wetlands shrinking at a rapid rate, however, so much of our ecological future is in flux.
I was lucky enough to see Sheila Watt-Cloutier speak about her environmental activism at the Chamber of Commerce’s Trailblazers Symposium. As an Inuk Canada Reads-nominated author and advocate for the health and safety of those most impacted by climate change, Watt-Cloutier has a lot of experience talking to people all over the world about ecological health. A pivotal point of her outlook on the topic is that “we can’t just think our way through [the climate crisis], we have to feel our way through [it].”
Struzik’s well-researched and heartfelt study of North America’s wetlands is bolstered by his ability to talk about ecological health with an immediacy that brings the topic to life. In other words, he forces you to feel, and feel strongly.
One of the roadblocks persuasive authors tend to stumble on is making their audience aware that the issue doesn’t just exist on paper, but actually has noticeable effects on their day-to-day life. This is a roadblock that Struzik vaults effortlessly, in large part due to a lot of this book focusing on the Northwest Territories. From Trail Valley Creek, around 50 km north of Inuvik, to the Scotty Creek Research Station, which is about 50 km south of Fort Simpson, Struzik digs deep into the effects that the disruption of the North’s swamplands has on the daily life of those living here. Most notably, in our case, he details the way that climate change is rapidly degrading the number of natural wildfire barriers we have between us and another evacuation.
As Bill Quinton, the director of the Scotty Creek Research Station, shared with Struzik, the rapid thawing of permafrost dramatically warps the environment in the Northwest Territories. Without the stability of permafrost, the ground quite literally collapses on itself, a transformation that has long-lasting effects on natural wildfire barriers, water quality, wildlife, vegetation, and us.
In a moment like this, when the evidence and testimonials are so striking, Struzik does a fantastic job collecting and assembling a book that is continuing to have a significant impact on the public awareness of the natural world.