DUC in Atlantic Canada is proud to manage over 120,000 acres of wetland habitat projects.

Some of these acres are owned by DUC, but for many of them, there is a separate landowner – someone who knows how important wetlands are and who is proud to work with DUC to conserve and protect their wetland into the future.

Often, the partnership starts when a landowner wants to restore a wetland that had been filled in or otherwise degraded. We work with the landowner to ensure that the wetland is restored in a way that will provide optimum function and habitat.

Another way in which we work with landowners is in the maintenance of existing wetlands, particularly those with water control structures. Landowners are a vital partner in wetland maintenance, alerting us to any maintenance needs that may exist.

We are proud of the partnership that we hold with over 1800 individual landowners in Atlantic Canada – they are valuable partners in conservation.

Atlantic Wetland Care Program

Ducks Unlimited Canada’s Atlantic Wetland Care Program works in partnership with over 1800 landowners across Atlantic Canada, in order to conserve wildlife habitat. This exciting program aims to provide private landowners with the appropriate educational resources to help them further understand the true value of wetlands and how to manage them successfully. DUC is committed to supporting and encouraging wetland stewardship among landowners, as they embark on their journey in becoming stewards in conservation. The program delivers that support and encouragement by providing landowners with resources such as a free DUC Landowner Welcome Package, which includes “The Wetland Care Guide”, an educational guidebook on how to properly care for your wetland, our bi-annual newsletter “The Pond Press” and fact sheets.

The Atlantic Wetland Care Program officially launched in June 2011 and will be continually building, allowing DUC and landowners to forge stronger bonds, and to help landowners feel a deeper connection to how their wetland contributes to conservation.

In addition to the Atlantic Wetland Care Program, we also have many landowner programs that deal with conservation and wetland enhancement:

• Nest box program
• Land monitoring program
• Conservation agreements
• Wetland Project Inspections

Profile of a Landowner

Barbara Enman

For Barbara, her passion for conservation started in 1983, when she became a livestock farmer in her community. As the years passed, Barbara became more connected to her land and strongly aware that as a farmer, she had a certain responsibility to play a role in protecting the environment. With a natural spring on her property and the presence of ‘wet’ land that was not being used by herself or her livestock, she decided to make a change and with the help of DUC, successfully restored a wetland on her property.