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North American leaders cite sustainably managed landscapes as a climate change solution
Wetlands and uplands looked toward for greenhouse gas benefits
Oak Hammock Marsh, Man., August 14, 2009 - When Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper, U.S. President Barack Obama and Mexican President Felipe Calderon brought forward their official declaration on climate change following their recent two-day summit in Guadalajara, Mexico, they included something Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) leaders have long been waiting to see.
The North American leaders’ integrated platform for climate change action identified the importance of sustainably-managed landscapes, including forests, wetlands and uplands, in the reduction of greenhouse gases.
“Over time, sustainably-managed landscapes have become a focal point for DUC’s conservation programs in our pursuit of conserving habitats that will most benefit our continent’s waterfowl populations,” said Cynthia Edwards, DUC’s manager of industry and government relations. “To see our leaders step up and acknowledge the importance of sustainably managed landscapes was indeed a huge moment for DUC. It is now up to us to capitalize on this momentum by ensuring governments, decision-makers and land-use managers fully understand the benefits of managing the landscape to achieve greenhouse gas reductions.”
The climate change declaration took place as part of the North American Leaders’ Summit where the three leaders reiterated commitments to climate change and clean energy made at the G8 summit earlier in the summer. The Guadalajara declaration stresses the shared vision for a “low - carbon North America” and included the following passage that caught DUC’s attention:
Working in key sectors can help accomplish emission reduction goals, the three leaders committed also:
To cooperate in sustainably managing landscapes for GHG (greenhouse gas) benefits, including protecting and enhancing our forests, wetlands, croplands and other carbon sinks, as well as developing appropriate methodologies to quantify, manage and implement programs for emission reductions in this sector;
According to Edwards, the nod by the leaders toward managing sustainable landscapes is a vast undertaking. But DUC has already taken steps toward the end goal through its research, landowner and partner co-operation and science-based conservation programs.
“We fully understand the value of wetlands, not only to the waterfowl, but to society,” Edwards said, citing flood mitigation, recreational uses, water quality and of course, carbon sequestration as benefits. “When a landscape is sustainably managed, the holistic benefits from the wetlands and surrounding uplands resonate for wildlife and people.”
While DUC pushes for retaining intact wetlands and natural uplands wherever possible to meet their conservation objectives, Edwards said there are many opportunities for DUC to engage in increased wetland restoration efforts across Canada to restore wetlands that had been previously drained. In fact, she says that the inclusion of wetland restoration in the still-in-development national carbon offset system is one surefire way to reduce greenhouse gases.
“In regards to a carbon offset system, we strongly urge the Canadian government to expand the range of eligible biological sequestration activities to include wetland restoration and retention,” Edwards says. “Research led by DUC and done in conjunction with university and government researchers across the country indicates that prairie wetlands are net sinks of greenhouse gases.”
Edwards also believes that the agriculture sector and the offset system overall would benefit from the development or adoption of a Perennial Cover Protocol that encourages conversion to perennial cover on agricultural lands as a means to sequester carbon, reduce GHG emissions, while providing waterfowl nesting habitat.
But the paramount key to achieving the declaration, says Edwards, will be the government’s leadership in working with those that live on and make their living off the land. In the boreal forest, this will entail co-operation from northern communities, industry and other interests that use and manage the country’s immense tracts of Crown land by working within a sustainable land use management framework. On the prairies and other agricultural landscapes across the nation, Edwards feels there is one giant step the government could make.
“Farmers and producers are known to have strong conservation ethics,” she said. “But they are also in business and they have to respond to market forces that are not in their control. We need the governments to develop and implement programs and policies that provide financial incentives for landowners to retain and restore wetlands in an economical and sustainable fashion. And these programs will help deliver and fortify the sustainably-managed landscapes that all Canadians will benefit from while ensuring the declaration by North America’s leaders has been properly acted upon.”
For more information, contact:
Duncan Morrison,
d_morrison@ducks.ca
National Marketing and Communications
Ducks Unlimited Canada
Tel: 204-467-3202
