Canada is home to one-quarter of the world’s wetlands. Bogs, peatlands, marshes, rivers, lakes, deltas, floodplains, and flooded forests cover 15 percent of our country’s landmass, and we are failing to protect these places. An estimated 70 percent of southern Canada’s wetlands have been lost. That figure increases to a nearly 95 percent loss near densely populated areas.
Every time we convert or degrade a wetland, we destroy these ecosystems’ environmental benefits: filtering water, storing carbon, protecting nearby communities from spring melts and summer droughts, and providing homes for many plant and animal species.
Wetlands are wonderful for all that they do for us. Like huge sponges, they absorb and hold water around our farms and cities, acting as buffers from floods and droughts. Coastal wetlands dampen storm surges by absorbing the wave energy and lessening shore erosion. During heavy rains, these huge sponges hold water and gradually release it. Wetlands also provide natural fire breaks, which is extremely important when considering wildfires, recently we’ve experienced this in parts of Canada.
Like landscape-sized water treatment plants, they store and filter the water that we depend on. Their intricate plant life filters out sediment and additional nutrients from the water we use to quench our thirst, brush our teeth, and make our coffee.
Round the world and at home, we are experiencing the brunt of the dramatic loss of wetlands.In January the Insurance Bureau of Canada reported that Canada suffered $3.1 billion in insurance damage from severe weather events during 2023. According to the report, in this country, insurance losses, have exceeded $2 billion annually, and most of it is due to water-related damage.
Wetlands serve as natural defenses that protect our homes and infrastructure from storms and floods and make everyday life healthier. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. We can protect what wetlands remain and restore the ones we have lost. This is a tangible solution to mitigating the effects of extreme weather events and our fast-changing climate.
We have a global responsibility to restore and conserve these areas. Many people and conservation organizations like the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) are working on it.
Presently, NCC has safeguarded the future of nearly 168,000 hectares of wetlands on 924 properties across the country. Together, the ecosystems store 87 million tons of carbon — equivalent to CO2 emissions from over 97 million passenger vehicles, nearly 136 billion liters of gasoline consumed, or 213 million homes’ electricity use in one year. The nature-based solutions for individuals, our communities, and the planet are made possible thanks to the landowners and donors working with us to conserve and care for our country’s wetlands.
In Ontario, NCC is continuing to protect and restore 353 wetland sites conserving almost 24,000 hectares. This spans eco-regions and across great lakes, from fragmented landscapes, which are highly impacted by human development in the south to wetlands and peatlands located in vast expanses of forest in the north.
This Wetlands Day, NCC is happy to announce the conservation of over 940 hectares on Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron, as well as on Lake Superior’s Black Bay Peninsula, near Thunder Bay.
Recently NCC completed a major wetland restoration at the Florian Diamante Nature Reserve on Pelee Island. What was once a marginal field of soybeans now supports diverse wetland species like amphibians, turtles, ducks, songbirds, and shorebirds. The newly planted wildflowers that line the shores attract many species including the endangered monarch butterfly.
These projects bring us hope. But the urgency with which we must protect and restore our wetlands is increasing daily.
As we face the impacts of climate change and the biodiversity crisis together, Canada needs everyone — all levels of governments, corporations, foundations, communities, and people — to invest, support, and volunteer in the efforts to conserve wetlands. Let’s act together to change their future and secure our own.
