HomeCoastal Flooding Reduced if Coastal Wetlands in Place According to DUC 
Amherst NS, Feb. 1 – The celebration of World Wetlands Day on February 2 arrives in the wake of storm surge flooding off the shorelines of Atlantic Canada that has Ducks Unlimited representatives calling for increased action to conserve and restore coastal wetlands.
"Historically, coastal wetlands have acted as buffer zones that absorb the destructive impact of tidal surges,'' said Mark Gloutney, senior biologist in DU's Amherst office. "But human activities have destroyed and degraded great expanses of coastal habitats and continue to jeopardize the coastal wetlands that remain.''
Gloutney said that 65 per cent of salt marsh in the Bay of Fundy has been diked for agricultural use and only 10 per cent of the salt marsh remains in New Brunswick's Tantramar Marsh. In addition, urban, industrial and recreational development along the coast are causing increased habitat disturbance, fragmentation, pollution and siltation that contribute to coastal habitat degradation and destruction.
"Historic habitat loss on the coast and accelerating coastal development are increasing risks to existing habitat. As a result, Ducks Unlimited has included the conservation of coastal wetlands as a goal in our long-term conservation plan,'' Gloutney said. "People suffer property loss and damage as a result of coastal habitat loss but waterfowl and other wildlife are losing habitats essential to their survival.''
Coastal habitats are of vital importance to shorebirds, like the Endangered piping plover, reptiles that include the Endangered leatherback turtle, and the Endangered eastern population of harlequin ducks. Biologists are concerned about declining populations of other duck populations not yet listed as species of concern in Canada. These include goldeneye, mergansers and sea ducks like scoters and eiders. Of 15 sea duck species breeding in North America, 10 are in decline. Eight of these use habitats in Atlantic Canada. Biologists believe that habitat loss is contributing to the falling numbers of these birds.
To address declining sea duck populations, Ducks Unlimited has joined with other conservation organizations and agencies in Canada and the United States to form the Sea Duck Joint Venture under the North American Waterfowl Management Plan. The joint venture promotes the conservation of North American sea ducks by increasing knowledge about the birds and their habitats to develop effective management plans.
For more than 60 years, Ducks Unlimited has been conserving wetland and upland habitat in Canada for North America's waterfowl, other wildlife and people. DU has invested more than $47 million to conserve over 29,000 hectares (73,000 acres) of wetland and associated upland habitat in the Atlantic Canada. These habitats help to maintain water quality and reduce flooding.
