Alberta

Conservation Priorities

Did you know?

In a national survey conducted in 2003, 43 per cent of Canadians identified protection of water resources such as wetlands, lakes and rivers as the most important type of environmental protection needed.

Did You Know?

Wetlands help to provide water supplies during periods of drought and control the effects of flooding during times of peak water flows.

In This Section

Provincial Wetland Inventory

Partnership will assist land managers in planning and measuring success

Alberta Environment (AE), with technical support from DUC through the Alberta NAWMP partnership, has developed a protocol and process for the implementation of the provincial wetland inventory project under the Water for Life strategy. DUC, as the only wetland restoration agency in Alberta, provides a key role in the process by providing input and advice to AE.

The wetland inventory uses new and historical aerial photographs to assess wetland cover changes over time. Each photograph is digitized by a GIS specialist and individual wetlands are traced and classified into various categories. The results are comprehensive, providing number, area, type and status of the wetlands within the watershed.

This comprehensive wetland inventory will provide watershed managers in Alberta with a detailed inventory of their current wetland base that will indicate which wetlands have been lost or altered. This information will be valuable for planning by industry, government, watershed groups, special interest groups and others and can be used as a benchmark for measuring success.