Forestland

Goals

• Maintain current waterfowl populations and species composition.

Assumptions

• Waterfowl populations have not changed in 30 years.
• Impacts of forestry practices on waterfowl are poorly understood. Natural ecological processes maintain waterfowl habitat and populations.

Strategies

• Encourage forestry practices that emulate natural ecological processes.
• Maintain wetland habitat quantity and quality.
• Retain and enhance policies and legislation that result in the conservation of wetland habitat and provide appropriate mitigation or enhancement measures where habitat degradation has occurred.
• Encourage more research to identify factors that limit waterfowl abundance.
• Discourage single species management, such as fish introductions or monocultural reforestation.

Agriculture/Forest Fringe

Goals

• To restore 9,000 ha of the most productive wetlands in the agriculture area while maintaining the proportion of wetlands in the forest fringe at 5% by preventing further agricultural encroachment on wetlands.
• To increase waterfowl populations by approximately 45,000 ducks by supporting breeding pair densities of at least 2.5 pairs/ha.

Assumptions

• Waterfowl populations have declined due to wetland drainage, clearing and agricultural development.
• Restored wetlands will be used by breeding waterfowl and will result in increased populations

Strategies

• Improve landowner attitudes towards wetland and upland values.
• Identify and restore drained wetlands.
• Revise legislation that promotes wetland drainage and impacts.

Urban and Urban Fringe

Goals

• To achieve no net loss of wetlands due to urban expansion and see degraded and drained wetlands restored to mitigate lost wetlands.
• To maintain wetland habitats in a productive natural state.
• To maintain current waterfowl populations and recruitment rates in urban areas.
• To maintain or increase waterfowl populations and recruitment rates in urban fringe areas.

Assumptions

• Net wetland loss can be stopped.

Strategies

• Use urban wetlands to provide venues for education, extension and fundraising activities.
• Maintain and influence planning processes and land use policies that will affect wetland conservation.
• Encourage mitigation for lost habitat.