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Eight Public Wetlands Get a Face-lift 
Ducks Unlimited Canada, Barrie, January 11, 2005 — Call it extreme makeover of the naturalization kind. Eight wetland areas bordering highly populated or high tourism centres across southern Ontario will receive funding from a partnership project of Ducks Unlimited Canada, (DUC) and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources to provide new or enhanced wetland interpretive opportunities to the public.
“These projects will focus on increasing public awareness of how wetlands contribute to water quality and wildlife habitat,” said Ontario Minister of Natural Resources, David Ramsay. “We hope the public will come away with a better understanding of the vital link between environmental health and human health.”
The funding will be used to construct boardwalks, kiosks and viewing platforms and add signage at eight wetland interpretive facilities: the Kortright Centre in Toronto, Wye Marsh in Midland, Laurel Creek Education Centre in Waterloo, Westminster Ponds Conservation Area in London, Baxter Conservation Area near Ottawa, Little Cataraqui Creek Education Centre in Kingston, Twenty Valley Marsh in Jordan and Bowmanville Marsh Conservation Area.
“Wetland loss threatens to outpace conservation efforts in southern Ontario,” said Ron Maher, manager of DUC operations in Ontario. “Our goal is to get more people out to wetlands so they can learn about them and come to appreciate the vital role they play in our natural environment.”
The project includes a marketing campaign to promote Ontario’s publicly accessible wetlands.
“Currently, health care receives roughly 45 per cent of the number of all charitable donations made in Ontario, which is not surprising given the enormous personal value that people attach to their health,” says DUC-Ontario’s marketing and communications manager Lynette Mader. “Alarmingly, the environment doesn’t even make it onto the charitable giving radar screen in Ontario and receives less than two per cent of charitable donations across Canada.”
Mader explains that while these examples relate specifically to charitable organizations, it is a clear reflection of the distribution of public interest, and is concerned that people still aren’t making the connection between a healthy landscape and their own health and well being.
“If we truly want Ontarians to support efforts to conserve our natural resources, we must help them to find real and greater personal value in these habitats,” says Mader, who agrees that getting people outdoors is a good start.
The province’s funding is part of a three-year, $2-million partnership between the province and DUC called Healthy Wetlands…Healthy Communities. Since 1976, the Ministry of Natural Resources and DUC have secured, enhanced and restored close to 400,000 hectares of Ontario’s wetland habitat.
For more information, please contact:
Lynette Mader, l_mader@ducks.ca
Regional Manager of Marketing and Communications
Ducks Unlimited Canada
Phone: (705) 721-4444 ext. 235
