The Wetlandkeepers Handbook

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Wetlands play an essential and complex role in the well-being of our environment. They clean our freshwater supply, reduce the impact of floods, and support wildlife, including fish and millions of migratory birds. Wetlands occupy an estimated 1,270,000 or 15 percent of Canada’s total land mass and include the world’s second largest peatlands resource base (after that of the former Soviet Union). As such, they serve as one of the principal reservoirs for freshwater storage in the northern hemisphere.

A practical guide to wetland care

Yet over the years wetlands have been treated as wastelands. Hectare after hectare of these biologically diverse areas has been drained and filled, leading to the eradication of literally thousands of hectares of wetlands in British Columbia alone.

Growing awareness of the value of wetlands led in the 1970s to the establishment of Canada’s National Wetlands Working Group (NWWG), with a mandate to undertake the systematic study and classification of our country’s extensive wetland systems. By 1988, with the publication of its volume Wetlands of Canada, the NWWG had influenced government policy makers to incorporate wetlands as a major component of the country’s conservation strategy and established a framework for their further study. Today that study continues both in Canada and abroad, as wetlands worldwide continue to disappear daily.

These training modules have been developed to encourage broad interest in wetlands around British Columbia. Modeled after the Streamkeepers Handbook developed by Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Wetlandkeepers provides background information on wetland ecology and laws related to wetlands, as well as step-by-step instruction on wetland activities. In this first edition the focus is on ‘getting to know’ your wetland. Later editions will include activities on planning for wetland restoration and protection.