Wetlands across Canada store vast amounts of carbon, helping to offset greenhouse gas emissions. However, Canada is losing nearly 12,000 hectares of wetlands each year through drainage, releasing stored carbon into the atmosphere. The boreal forest and prairie pothole region contain some of the world's largest intact wetland ecosystems and store enormous amounts of carbon that is released as wetlands are drained. An effective climate policy should encourage wetland restoration to offset emissions and minimize further wetland loss and drainage.

1. Wetland ecosystems across Canada – from the estuaries of
the B.C. coast to the salt marshes of the Bay of Fundy – store vast
amounts of carbon. Storage capacities are determined by different
environmental conditions.However,two key points remain constant:
• There is strong scientific consensus that overall, “wetlands are
optimum natural environments for sequestering and storing
carbon from the atmosphere” (W.J. Mitsch et al., 2012)
• At nearly 12,000 hectares lost each year, Canada’s wetlands
are being drained at an unsustainable rate – with potentially
devastating consequences for the climate.
Two areas of Canada need our immediate attention.
North America’s 607 million hectare boreal forest contains the
largest remaining intact inventory of wetlands in the world. Com-
bined, this ecozone stores more carbon than any other on Earth –
and nearly three times as much carbon as tropical forests (Y. Malhi
et al., 1999). Canada’s boreal forest alone holds an estimated
208 billion tonnes of carbon – the equivalent of more than 20
years of global emissions from the burning of fossil fuels (M.Carlson
et al., 2009).
While approximately 80 per cent of Canada’s boreal forest remains
intact,the southern portion of the boreal forest,the boreal transition
zone, has been significantly degraded by human activity.The region
faces unprecedented expansion by agriculture, forestry, mining and
energy development.
In the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of Manitoba, Saskatchewan
and Alberta, more than 70 per cent of the original wetlands have
been lost due to agricultural drainage (N.H. Euliss et al., 2006).The
remaining wetlands of the PPR, the primary breeding area for over
70 per cent of North America’s waterfowl, have the potential to
offset approximately 128 million metric tons of CO2
emissions
over a 10-year period (N.H. Euliss et al., 2006).
When wetlands are drained, an enormous amount of stored
atmospheric carbon is released into the atmosphere. For every
hectare of drained prairie wetland, approximately 89 metric tons (t)
of carbon (326 tonnes of CO2
equivalent) is released (Badiou et al.,
2011).Draining a hectare of boreal peatland also releases an estimated
1,603 t of stored carbon – fully 5,877 t of CO2
equivalents (R.C.
Rooney et al, 2011). On average, Canada loses approximately
11,817 hectares of wetlands each year, or 32 hectares daily –
the equivalent of adding the CO2 emissions of 200 cars to the
atmosphere every single day.
WetlandsandClimateChange
Canada’s wetlands support tremendous biodiversity, and are home to more than one third
of our country’s species at risk.They provide a home for millions of songbirds, waterfowl
and iconic species such as woodland caribou.Wetlands purify our air and water, and help
to prevent soil erosion.But did you know that they are also among our planet’s most
important tools to sequester atmospheric carbon?

2. Based on recent research conducted in the Canadian prairies (Badiou
et al., 2011), wetland restoration has the potential to sequester 3.25 t
of CO2
equivalents per hectare per year over a 33-year period. For
the sake of comparison, conservation tillage – a low-impact best
management practice for agricultural carbon sequestration – can
sequester only 0.4-1.5 t of CO2
equivalents per hectare per year.
An effective climate policy should encourage the restoration of
wetland habitat as a carbon offsetting tool. We urgently need
to restore lost or degraded wetland habitat, particularly in areas of
Canada where wetland drainage has already reached critical levels,
such as in the Prairie Pothole Region and parts of the Great Lakes/
St. LawrenceValley.
Wetland restoration takes time and money – nearly $20, 000 per
hectare on average.An appropriately designed carbon offsetting
system, where emitters could purchase credits to fund wetland
restoration initiatives, or undertake compensatory wetland resto-
ration themselves, would significantly accelerate the pace of this
vital work.
DUC has already developed proposals for offsetting protocols, and
we would welcome the opportunity to engage with decision makers
on the design of a carbon policy that incentivizes restoration.
However, no amount of restoration can ever fully compensate
for the damage caused by wetland drainage. A recent study
found that even a century after restoration had taken place,carbon
storage function in restored wetlands remained on average 23 to
26 per cent below that of non-drained wetlands (D.Moreno-Mateos
et al., 2012).While wetland restoration is both a highly productive
and necessary endeavour, the far more economical, efficient, and
ecologically responsible course of action would clearly be to
avoid and minimize wetland destruction in the first place.
Bearing in mind that draining just one hectare of boreal wetland
releases almost 6 000 t of stored CO2
equivalents, we must care-
fully examine land-use planning and development decisions in
terms of the climate impacts of wetland loss, in accordance with
the mitigation sequence outlined in the 1996 implementation
guide to the Federal Policy on Wetland Conservation:
b Avoidance of drainage and destruction of wetlands
whenever possible
c Minimization of unavoidable damage to wetlands
d Compensation for unavoidable damage through the
restoration of equivalent wetland habitat in order to
maintain a base level of wetland functions
In order to positively influence the decisions of developers, there
must be a true and tangible cost for the carbon emissions released
as a result of wetland drainage,and offsetting systems must take into
account the carbon storage potential of wetland restoration. The
loss of wetlands in Canada has profound implications not just
for Canadian wildlife habitat, but for the changing climate.
Our country needs a climate
adaptation policy that recognizes
that no matter where we live,
all Canadians benefit from
keeping healthy wetland eco-
systems on the landscape.
Government Affairs Office
Ducks Unlimited Canada
612-350 Sparks Street
Ottawa, ON
K1R 7S8
Tel.: 613-565-2525