Vue aérienne. Les zones marécageuses de la Silicon Valley agissent en effet comme des éponges géantes qui filtrent les toxines et protègent les terres des risques d\’inondation.

85% of tidal marsh lands of the San Francisco Bay area have already been destroyed under the effects of urbanization and intensive exploitation of salt ponds. A recent study of PRBO Conservation Science revealed that they could have completely disappeared within a century due to the ocean level rise. Almost a million birds still find refuge in the marshes of the Silicon Valley, such as the fragile Snowy Plovers and California Clapper Rails. The most ambitious restoration program of the American west coast, representing more than a billion dollars, takes place on these lands. In addition of being the most important step of the Pacific flyway, those habitats act like giant sponges, protecting upstream lands from flooding risks. Without them, the Google and Facebook campus would be underwater.