MILTON, Del. - Today DNREC and the Delaware Department of Agriculture (DDA) signed an agreement to protect unique wetlands across the state.
Service Refuge Manager for Prime Hook, Kate Toniolo, said that the sanctuary alone protects 10,000 acres of the coast and about 80 percent of that is wetland.
She said they have to be proactive in protecting wetlands like these, "We have in the past have done a lot of restoration around the marshes at Prime Hook where a few years ago we had a major project to basically rebuild the beach and rebuild the marsh - doing seeding in different areas and keeping an eye on things, making sure we're not losing wetlands."
According to environmentalists, threats like development causing the draining of wetlands and great wave energy cause wetlands to diminish.
Christophe Tulou, Executive Director of the Center for the Inland Bays said, "They need protection from the same thing that they're providing us protection from which is changing climate. Certainly in our coastal area with sea level rise and storm surges associated with our nor'easters and hurricanes, they're our first line of defense. But as those storms come through, as the water levels rise and fall, we're losing our shorelines very quickly."
Wetlands from marsh to ponds are not only homes for various species of animals and protect the coast from flooding, but give locals the chance to recreate with fishing or canoeing.
Toniolo said there are ways people can help keep wetlands healthy from home, "The best thing they can do, especially if they are a homeowner is make sure that they're not letting any pollution runoff of their property like fertilizer, lawn fertilizer, things like that. That always finds its way to a wetland and that can cause harmful algal blooms and generally degrade the habitat and wetland is huge."
To learn more about wetlands you can visit Prime Hook's website.