How our work impacts conservation across Canada.
Where we’re working on the ground from coast to coast.
We need your help to protect our water, wildlife, and wetlands. Here’s how you can make an impact.
Using nature to solve nature’s challenges
It’s using nature’s tools – like wetlands – to solve challenges like stormwater runoff, erosion and flooding.
More formally, natural green infrastructure is defined as the use of naturally occurring ecological processes to generate infrastructure outcomes.
What distinguishes natural infrastructure is its ability to provide multiple positive outcomes, including biodiversity improvements, habitat protection, climate adaptation, carbon sequestration and other ecosystem services supporting the health of human communities and functioning ecosystems.
Affordable natural infrastructure complements and extends the life cycle of built infrastructure (sometimes called grey infrastructure) such as municipal drains and conventional stormwater ponds.
Wetlands slow the flow of water from runoff into rivers and lakes and lessen the impact of flooding.
Wetlands are part of healthy landscapes that form buffers against the effects of extreme weather such as flooding, coastal storm surges and drought.
Wetlands trap carbon and prevent its release into the atmosphere where it would contribute to climate change.
Wetlands and their vegetation filter water, including removing excess nutrients that would otherwise find their way into streams, rivers and lakes and cause harmful algae blooms. They also store water, helping to protect against drought.
Wetlands provide food and shelter to wildlife, and they’re areas of natural beauty that draw outdoors enthusiasts. Those same qualities increase nearby property values.
The Insurance Bureau of Canada stated that losses from climate change and extreme weather rose to an average of $1.8 billion per year for 2009-2017 from $405 million for 1983-2008. The report noted that flood risk could be limited through retention and restoration of natural infrastructure such as ponds, wetlands and vegetation.
Municipalities own about 57 per cent of Canadian infrastructure. These are our roadways, bridges, shorelines, recreation places, as well as stormwater, wastewater, and drinking water facilities, with 30 per cent of these assessed as being in fair or very poor condition. As municipalities look to improve these areas, they can balance built infrastructure (grey infrastructure) with natural green infrastructure to help reduce costs and increase natural benefits.
Memories of the devastating floods that displaced thousands of Albertans in June 2013 are still vivid.
New research builds the case for leveraging wetlands to reduce flood risk.
Harnessing wetlands as green infrastructure solutions to our water woes
A new municipal drain near Melbourne, ON, is buffered by wetlands to hold and filter water from the surrounding farm fields
New report on the role of wetlands in removing phosphorus to protect lakes in Ontario
Partner with Ducks Unlimited Canada on your natural infrastructure project
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