Canada has a wonderful ecological legacy to protect, as the country is home to a full quarter of the world’s remaining wetlands. These important wetlands, which purify water and absorb floodwaters, cover nearly 14% of the state’s land area. They are home to a wonderful diversity of marshes, prairies, and peatlands. Wetlands in Canada are almost twice as extensive as its lakes. This illustrates their irreplaceable role in providing and protecting biodiversity, natural infrastructure as green stormwater solutions, and safe waterways.
The country is a leader with 37 Wetlands of International Importance, as recognized by the Ramsar Convention. Combined, these wetlands stretch over 13 million hectares. Protected areas are foundational to protecting habitats and species. They help keep the wilderness healthy for other species, like beavers, moose, and woodland caribou, which are all iconic Canadian animals. Wetlands are important habitats for many migratory birds, helping them complete their life cycles and migration patterns.
In addition to increasing wildlife diversity, Canadian wetlands are crucial water storage infrastructure. That’s particularly the case in the Prairie provinces, southern Ontario and Québec. They serve as natural water reservoirs, soaking up excess flood waters during rainstorms and releasing it during drought periods. Understanding this capacity for water management is fundamental to understanding how these regions have historically maintained the hydrological balance.
On top of that, most of these wetlands have been sequestering carbon into that bank since the last ice age. The peat deposits found in these ecosystems store significant amounts of carbon that would otherwise contribute to climate change if released into the atmosphere. The carbon stored in Canadian wetlands can never be replaced on a human time scale. This emphasizes just how badly we need to defend these essential ecosystems. Fortunately, as much as 98% of Canadian peatlands are still intact, making up a huge, natural resource in the fight against climate change.
Canadian wetlands are under constant threat from various activities that threaten their very existence. Drainage to facilitate agricultural expansion and urban development have inflicted the greatest losses, particularly in southern Canada. Most of the wetlands in that region have drowned out. The recent legislative attempt to allow critical minerals to be produced with a fast-tracked production pipeline threatens these important ecosystems. Now, huge stretches of these protective wetlands are endangered.
Continued conservation investment will be key to protecting more of Canada’s wetlands in the long-term. Protecting these ecosystems benefits biodiversity overall and many of our nation’s most iconic species. It’s essential for helping to stabilize our climate by ensuring that we can continue to store carbon. From the national level down to our local communities, we’re striving to find a balance between protecting development and conservation. Foremost, it needs to appreciate the priceless aesthetic and ecological services that wetlands provide.
