Responsible wetland management, planning, decision making and implementation is critical to Canada’s future, and indeed the future of our entire planet.
The Canadian Wetlands Roundtable focuses on priority projects that are led, funded and supported by national industry sectors, like agriculture, forestry and mining as well as municipal, provincial and federal governments and academia.
Collectively, we are advancing national awareness and conserving wetlands as a sensible and sustainable solution to climate change.
If you are interested in learning more about these projects or discussing engagement and partnership opportunities, we would like to hear from you. Please contact us at info@canadianwetlandsroundtable.ca.
Funding and in-kind support for these projects has been made possible by the Canadian Wetlands Roundtable, Ducks Unlimited Canada and Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Nature Smart Climate Solutions Fund.
What are wetlands worth to Canadians?
It is estimated that Canada’s wetlands provide billions of dollars annually in economic and ecosystem services by storing carbon, minimizing flooding and providing water quality benefits to communities across the country. Yet, Canada has lost up to 70 per cent of its wetlands in settled areas, resulting in significant long-term financial and environmental costs to the Canadian economy and to our natural environment.
This project is designed to establish more accurate and reliable mechanisms for measuring the economic value of wetlands and the ecosystem services they provide to Canadians and the Canadian economy.
Canada has lost up to 70 per cent of its wetlands in settled areas, resulting in significant long-term financial and environmental costs to the Canadian economy and to our natural environment.
Wetland valuations are currently only available for specific regions or subregions of Canada, and the methods for undertaking these valuations varies significantly. The development of more refined and comprehensive wetland valuation methodologies is needed to improve both the scope and consistency of wetland valuations across Canada. These valuations can then provide a credible rationale for new wetland conservation and restoration policies and programming, culminating in increased carbon storage capacity, reductions in flooding and erosion and improved biodiversity protection.
October 1, 2022-March 31, 2024
Why do we need a national wetland evaluation guide?
Wetland evaluations classify wetland types and measure specific wetland attributes. They determine the ecosystem services provided by these hard-working ecosystems and can be used to inform decision-making around land-use planning.
This project involves the production of a national wetland evaluation guide.
A Wetland Evaluation Guide will inform municipal, provincial, territorial and federal wetland policies and programs on the importance of wetland habitats as natural infrastructure for tackling climate change and halting and reversing biodiversity loss.
Wetland evaluations are necessary for building an accurate national wetland inventory database for Canada. The current wetland inventory does not cover the full geographic scope of wetlands in Canada. Also, many evaluations are inconsistent having been undertaken using different methodologies, and numerous are out of date. In short, there is no national protocol for wetland evaluation.
As a result, stakeholders do not have a comprehensive and coherent wetland inventory that informs decision-making related to wetland protection, management and restoration. A detailed wetland evaluation guide is required to help ensure that the national wetland inventory database is consistent, comprehensive and based on reliable data. This will guide municipal, provincial, territorial and federal wetland management and will better inform the economic valuations of wetlands, that articulate the cost of wetland loss and the benefits wetlands provide to Canadians in terms of natural infrastructure and biodiversity.
Environment and Climate Change Canada recently consulted with wetland practitioners from across Canada to help inform the design of a new wetland assessment protocol for future wetland inventory work. The Canadian Wetlands Roundtable is developing revised wetland evaluation guidelines to help ensure that future wetland evaluations meet this new national protocol.
The Wetland Evaluation Guide will help governments, Indigenous communities, environmental non-governmental organizations, Industry and others produce accurate wetland assessments. It will also help ensure wetland inventories meet the requirements of the Canadian National Wetland Inventory database.
January 2022-January 2024
How do we advance wetland policy development across Canada?
Each province and territory in Canada are at different stages of wetland policy development. To date, Canada's federal government and six jurisdictions—Yukon, Alberta, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island —have wetland policies in place. If we are to advance wetland conservation across the country and rely on wetlands as nature-based solutions to mitigate climate change and prevent biodiversity loss, we need to advance wetland policy development across the country.
This project will involve the development of a comprehensive policy framework to help guide the adoption of wetlands as nature-based solutions while supporting biodiversity conservation.
A National Wetland Policy Framework will position wetlands as key nature-based solutions that will help mitigate climate change and prevent biodiversity loss across Canada.
Wetland policies that are science based and accessible to all sectors will support long-term wetland conservation planning and position wetlands as nature-based solutions. To ensure that the outcome of this work is credible and supported, the Canadian Wetlands Roundtable will engage stakeholders, Indigenous communities and all levels of government during the process.
October 1, 2022-March 31, 2024
The Canadian Wetlands Roundtable will host a national wetland policy workshop for wetland conservation policy development, refinement and adoption in Canada. The workshop outcomes will include drafting a policy framework based on workshop input and literature reviews. The process will be iterative and involve stakeholder engagement.
Where do land managers find the tools to manage wetlands?
As wetlands are located on public and private lands, a wide range of land managers and stewards play a fundamental role in ensuring their sustainable management and protection. Yet, these land managers and stewards do not always have access to reliable and current information or tools needed to make informed decisions for wetland management.
This project aims to develop beneficial management practices (BMPs) for wetlands that are designed for sectors that work in and around wetlands in Canada. The specific sectors include forestry, mining, agriculture, oil and gas, transportation infrastructure and urban development, among others. These BMPs will support land managers in recognizing wetlands as nature-based solutions for both climate change and biodiversity conservation.
Private and smaller-scale land managers play a fundamental role in the sustainable management and protection of wetland systems across Canada; BMPs will help guide their work.
BMPs exist in various forms across sectors. Some adequately address wetland associated issues, but others do not. To ensure up-to-date, comprehensive and science-based actions by those responsible for wetland conservation and management, there is a need to update and create new BMPs and to standardize recommendations in consultation with experts from each sector.
The BMPs will support wetlands as nature-based solutions and will be applicable to sector-specific practitioners.
March 31, 2024 Completion
How can we protect Canada’s wetlands if we don’t know where they are?
To manage Canada’s wetlands sustainably, we need to know where they are. Ducks Unlimited Canada currently hosts an online database of wetland inventories, yet there are many gaps in geographic coverage. Work driven by Environment and Climate Change Canada, Ducks Unlimited Canada and many other organizations are collaborating to establish guidance for the content required in wetland inventories that will provide the data for a national wetland inventory database operated by the federal government.
This project involved conducting a scan of wetland inventory databases that currently exist across Canada. This scan will be used to inform the development of a comprehensive, national open-source wetland inventory database proposed by Environment and Climate Change Canada. A national database will support decision-making for climate change and biodiversity focused approaches to wetland conservation and allow for more accurate estimates of the economic benefits of wetlands.
A comprehensive wetland inventory will inform and guide new investments in wetland conservation for the long-term and will allow for estimates of the economic benefits of wetlands to become more accurate.
An updated wetland inventory database will support the development of incentives and market-based approaches to wetland conservation and management. It will also inform strategies aimed at realizing Canada’s climate change mitigation and biodiversity conservation goals.
An assessment of the status of existing wetland inventories was seen as a first step in defining the scope of additional inventory work still required and the degree to which inventories may need to be updated to meet a contemporary set of uniform standards for Canada.
The project culminated in a report and associated spreadsheet detailing the status of the wetland inventory in Canada. It also included recommendations for a contemporary wetland inventory standard.
Further work is needed to implement a comprehensive national wetland inventory.
March 31, 2023: Completed
If you are interested in learning more about these projects or discussing engagement and partnership opportunities, we would like to hear from you. Please contact us at info@canadianwetlandsroundtable.ca.
Funding and in-kind support for these projects has been made possible by the Canadian Wetlands Roundtable, Ducks Unlimited Canada and Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Nature Smart Climate Solutions Fund.