Wetlands of Canada

Canadian wetlands account for approximately one quarter of the world's total wetlands and is ranked with the highest surface area of wetlands on the Ramsar Conventions List of Wetlands of International Importance. Canada holds 37 designated areas of International Importance which equates to approximately 13,086,767 hectares of land.
Wetlands play an important role in Canadian in ecosystem functioning as they protect coastal areas from erosion; regulate water from large floods; prevent toxic sediments and substances from getting into groundwater; provide habitats for various species; participate and contribute to the water cycle; and serve as a natural storage base for carbon. It is wetlands that provide productive habitats with high species diversity and nutrient cycling in comparison to many other ecosystems. In addition to ecological functions, wetlands contribute to socio-economic frameworks in Canada such as hunting, trapping and fishing; tourism and recreation; domestic peat energy source and resource for peat; provide materials for forest products; and account for some natural heritage areas.
The first national wetland policy of Canada is The Federal Policy on Wetland Conservation which was established in 1991. It came to fruition after Environment Canada developed a statement on wetlands issues in Canada in 1986 and early 1987. The management and protection of wetlands in Canada was deemed a significant land use issue by the Federal-Provincial Committee on Land Use (FPCLU) which stemmed from Canada's involvement with the Ramsar Convention. Key proposals from the convention included the establishment of wetland conservation policies to address legislative needs, improve knowledge and awareness of wetland functions, and to have continuous monitoring of wetlands in Canada.
In April 1990, a national policy conference was held termed the "Sustaining Wetlands Forum" which included Federal government, non-government, and industry groups such as Ducks Unlimited Canada, Wildlife Habitat Canada, and the Round Table on the Environment and the Economy. This forum provoked a series of recommendations, including the incorporation of policies within all jurisdictions in Canada to better conserve wetlands by 1991. In addition, national consultations were conducted during summer 1990 which found widespread public support for incorporating wetlands into Canadian conservations needs and the necessity to reclaim and protect wetlands within Canada.
Wetlands can be found in Canada's broad ranges of ecozones spanning across the provinces and territories. In Canada, there is approximately 1.29 million km of wetlands which in turn covers 13% of Canada's terrestrial area. Canadian wetlands are predominantly located within the Boreal Shield which accounts for 25% of the existing wetland habitats. Other localities with high percentages of wetland occurrence include the Hudson Plains (21%) and Boreal Plains (18%). Specifically, it is the Hudson Plains terrestrial habitats that are mainly constituted of wetlands. The major wetlands in Canada extend from central Labrador to south of Hudson Bay in addition to northwest of the Mackenzie River delta.
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The Canadian Wetland Classification System (CWCS) is based on wetland functions and interrelationships between abiotic and biotic constituents of wetland habitats. These interrelationships determine the resulting implications and characteristics of hydrology, climate, vegetation interactions, and water quality which are important considerations for deciding how to manage and conserve different wetland environments.
The CWCS has a hierarchical structure which is composed of wetland class, wetland form, and wetland type. The broadest category is the wetland class which recognizes the genetic origin of each specific wetland ecosystem. This consists of bogs, fens, swamps, marshes, and shallow waters. These are determined by examining abiotic parameters including hydrologic regime, mineral material, water chemistry, and the interaction of these functions with biota to form vegetation cover or peat. Wetland forms are determined by assessing wetland ecosystems surface morphology and pattern, water quality, relationship to open water, and the underlying mineral soil morphology. Lastly, wetland types are determined by investigating the wetland ecosystems vegetation physiognomy.
Since the onset of colonization the total wetland area in Canada has decreased by 15%. This equates to approximately 20 million hectares or one seventh of Canada's total wetland areas. In 1991, the Minister of Environment estimated 65% of Atlantic coastal salt marshes have been eradicated; 80 to 98% of wetlands adjacent or completely within urban centres have been destroyed; 68% of wetlands in southern Ontario have been lost; and 70% of Pacific estuary marshes have been degraded. This exhibits the necessity for implementing and establishing more wetland policies and frameworks within the Canadian political framework.
The Federal Policy on Wetland Conservation is applied on federal lands which constitutes approximately 29% of Canada's wetlands. As such, the majority of wetlands within Canada are not protected under this policy which subsequently lies on the provincial or territorial policies and guidelines for protection. Most provinces and territories have implemented a wetland management program but not all have wetland conservations policies in place to protect wetlands. This is due in part to The Federal Policy on Wetland Conservation being depicted as a partnership between provincial and territorial governments in combination with private sections.
The policies, frameworks, guidelines, and strategies for wetland management and protection vary nationally in Canada.
Wetland law and policy within North America is reliant on the implementation of the "mitigation sequence" which includes avoidance, minimization, compensation, and restoration for any alterations to wetlands. However, achieving and executing avoidance within the mitigation sequence has been broadly argued by scholars, scientists, policy-makers, and regulators to be dismissed with wetland protection. The total avoidance of impacts on wetlands in Canada can be boiled down to 5 key factors central to the failure of decision-makers to prioritize avoidance and minimization within the mitigation sequence. A 2011 Wetlands Ecology and Management article suggests the following issues:
Varying interpretations of what constitutes "avoidance" coupled with a scarcity of standardized methods or guidelines for interpreting and following regulatory requirements in Canada has led to suboptimal protection of wetlands. As such, Clare et al. (2011) suggests, "The language that allows compensation if avoidance or minimization 'is not practicable becomes a de facto loophole in its non-specificity, allowing developers to skirt the intent of the law and move directly to compensation". This is enabled by the high degrees of subjective interpretations which catalyzes inconsistent decision-making and uncertainty within and between jurisdictions in Canada.
The permitting of incremental wetland loss can be seen by the negligence of incorporating and recognizing wetlands in development planning. This leads to conservation, protection, or restoration strategies inadequate to prevent the degradation of wetlands. As such, Clare et al., (2011) argues, "Designating ecologically significant wetlands in advance of development would allow for the avoidance of high priority sites, thereby connecting larger regional management goals (and ecological function), with site-by-site permitting decisions" (p 170). In addition to this, divergent goals between regulators and decision-makers in regards to wetland management can further wetland degradation. Without the presence of coordinated planning on the protection of wetlands there may be vulnerable localities of wetlands that may face future incursions from development.
The formulation of market-based instruments has re-focused policy and decision-makers' considerations from avoiding and minimizing wetland impacts towards a more permissive orientation based on exchange values of wetland functions. Wetland area and ecosystem services are intangible and their intrinsic necessity for anthropogenic functioning has been undermined by the emergence of wetland banking and in-lieu fee payments. This is in part due to the more immediate wealth associated with developments directly related to economic prosperity which often result in the degradation of wetland functions. As such, the monetary tools established for defining wetland ecosystem services exist but their understanding for ecosystem goods and services are poorly understood and followed. Furthermore, the abstraction of wetland functions and services through monetary valuation undermines the connectivity of wetlands to broader ecological functions.
The advancement in wetland creation and restoration in North America permits the notion that constructed wetlands that visually resemble naturally occurring wetlands can be adequate compensation measures. However, these advancements with engineering and heavy equipment that aim to mimic naturally occurring wetlands often fail to consider the multitude of variables contributing to wetland functioning such as wetland soils, hydrologic regimes, riparian zones, and water chemistry. As such, the undermining of wetland complexity to means of compensation and construction neglects the intrinsic values and functions of natural wetlands. Compensation, restoration, and construction of wetlands through offset wetland policies may have issues in creating equivalency of the ecological, social, and economic values associated with naturally occurring wetlands.
The implementation of compliance and enforcement is necessary to prevent violations on the alteration and destruction of wetlands prior to governmental permitting and approvals. Violations by permit-holders or proponents may be due in part to proponents' ignorance to the wetland policies and laws in addition to the governmental necessity to fund monitoring to ensure conditions are being followed as outlined in permits. If governments fail to oversee compliance through follow-up measures the accountability of permit holders can be lost. As such, the enactment of compensation over avoidance can seem much easier and more economically intuitive than avoidance mitigation measures for proponents. This can be improved by the enhancement of regulatory agencies follow-up and monitoring to ensure proponents are following wetland protection guidelines. In addition, the coordination of wetland policies within and between jurisdictions can aid in achieving better compliance.
Greater compliance, transparency,fd and consistency within jurisdictions can aid in improving policies and regulations regarding wetlands in Canada. The existing technical knowledge on the importance of wetland for humans and ecological functions can be incorporated into refining methodologies for valuing and managing wetlands. This can assist in wetland conservation and compliance within existing policies. In a 1998 review of Canadian wetland policy, Jonathan Scarth outlines policy instruments and research needs to best protect and conserve wetlands in Canada, identifying as toolsscience communication, land use incentives and disincentives, public acquisition of land, and land use regulation.