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