NB Wetland Conservation Policy

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NB Wetland Conservation Policy

• Christie Clark
• UNB Graduate Candidate

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Introduction

• Status of Wetlands in Canada and New Brunswick
• Wetland Functions and Values
• Wetland Policy and Regulations
• Wetland Research

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Wetlands

• Wetlands are the most productive of any natural
  ecosystem in Canada and among the most threatened
  habitats in the world due to drainage, pollution
  and urbanization.

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Wetland Characteristics

• Wetlands are comprised of three characteristics
• an area of land that is permanently or
  periodically saturated with water
• hydric or wet soil
• vegetation that has adapted to water or
  saturated conditions.
• Five wetland classes bog, fen, marsh, swamp,
  and shallow open water

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Wetland Conservation

• As guardian of this global ecological patrimony,
  Canada should be a leader in wetland protection.
  Instead losses are still occurring.
• At the landscape level, wetlands have often been
  considered places that needed to be transformed
  so that they would become useful. They were
  drained, filled-in or built around.
• Attitudes and interests in wetland conservation
  have changed over the past few decades, wetlands
  are seen as assets both within and outside of
  urban areas.

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Wetland Values and Functions

• Wetlands are typically the biological reservoirs
  in grassland, forested and arctic landscapes, and
  coastal areas, hosting and sustaining many of the
  countrys natural assets such as plants, birds,
  insects, and mammals.
• They also sustain the mainstay physical
  resources, such as water and soils. In an
  overarching capacity, the combined biophysical
  properties of wetlands are the life networks and
  homes for many wildlife species.

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Wetland Values Functions

• support habitat for a wide range of species and
  provide for great aesthetic and educational
  opportunities.
• act as a natural sponge as they soak up rainwater
  and slowly release it to surrounding forests and
  aquifers that eventually feed our drinking wells.
• A wetland that is 1 hectare in size with 30 cm of
  water would hold approximately 3 million litres
  of water

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Replacing Lost Wetland Functions
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NB Wetlands

• 25 of the worlds wetlands are found in Canada,
  10 of which are located in the Eastern Provinces
  and covers 4 of NBs land base.
• Of these 300,000 hectares, 97 are inland while
  the remaining 3 are coastal wetlands.
• New Brunswick has lost 65 of its coastal marshes
  due to residential or commercial purposes.

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NB Wetlands Conservation Policy

• The responsibility for managing and protecting
  wetlands in New Brunswick rests primarily with
  the Departments of Environment (DENV) and Natural
  Resources (DNR).
• DENV is responsible for the legislation that
  provides protection for wetlands, namely the
  Environmental Impact Assessment Regulation (EIA),
  Clean Environment Act and the Watercourse and
  Wetland Alteration Regulation (WAWA), Clean Water
  Act.

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NB Wetlands Conservation Policy

• To effectively manage and conserve wetlands, NB
  Provincial Government developed a Wetlands
  Conservation Policy.
• The Policy was approved in 2002 and has two main
  objectives
• maintenance of wetland function and
• stewardship, securement, education and awareness.
  

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POLICY STATEMENTS

• The Government of New Brunswick will
• Prevent the loss of Provincially Significant
  Wetland habitat and achieve the goal of no net
  loss of wetland function for all other wetlands.
• (Note All coastal marshes are considered
  Provincially Significant under this policy, and
  will receive the highest degree of protection.)
• Promote and develop wetlands education and
  awareness programs and supporting materials
• Promote stewardship and securement of wetlands
  through enhanced cooperation among local,
  municipal, provincial and federal governments and
  private sector stakeholders.

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Environmental Impact Assessment

• The regulatory mechanisms for development review
  of the NB Wetland Conservation Policy is provided
  by the Environmental Impact Assessment
  Regulations (EIA).
• EIA is a process through which socio-economic and
  environmental impacts potentially resulting from
  a proposed project are identified and assessed.
• EIA is a planning tool which is used when a
  proponent (any individual, firm or government
  agency), proposes a project in New Brunswick that
  falls under Schedule A of the EIA registration
  document.

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Environmental Impact Assessment

• The trigger for any project involving wetlands is
  (v) all enterprises, activities, projects,
  structures, works or programs affecting two
  hectares or more of bog, marsh, swamp or other
  wetland (the project must be registered under
  EIA).
• Once the project is registered it is reviewed by
  a technical committee who comments on any
  conditions or permits that may be required for
  the project to proceed
• Once the technical review committee completes its
  review the project is either determined,
  determined with conditions, or denied. A
  condition of a determined project affecting a 2
  hectare or more wetland could involve the
  submission of a Compensation/Mitigation plan.

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Wetland Alteration Permit

• The Department of the Environment administers the
  Watercourse and Wetland Alteration Regulation
  permit program.
• The basis of this regulation is that Wetlands
  throughout the Province (including coastal
  marshes) are considered watercourses and any
  person working within 30 metres of a 1 hectare
  wetland or greater is required to obtain a permit
  prior to any activities (i.e. vegetation
  clearing, soil excavation, construction or
  landscaping)

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Mitigation/Compensation

• Mitigation is a process for achieving wetland
  conservation through the application of
  alternatives, including
• avoidance of impacts
• minimization of unavoidable impacts, and
• compensation (should be viewed as the last
  resort)
• Suggested compensatory mitigation ratios by
  mitigation type (Mitigation ratios based on area
  of compensation required for each hectare of
  impacted wetland)
• Restoration 21
• Enhancement 41
• Creation 31
• Preservation 101 combined with restoration,
  enhancement, or creation.

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NB Coastal Areas Policy

• The NB Wetland Policy is complemented by New
  Brunswicks Coastal Areas Protection Policy
  (CAPP) This policy recognizes salt marshes as
  coastal features, and highly restricts
  development in salt marshes or within a 30-metre
  buffer.
• The CAPP prevents development by zoning coastal
  features and the areas around them, and so its
  successful implementation will require
  cooperation from municipalities.

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City of Fredericton

• Very few wetlands remain within the City of
  Fredericton therefore conservation is extremely
  important.
• We are very fortunate to have large wetlands in
  uptown Fredericton (Regent Bog and Corbett Brook
  headwaters) which aid in our citys flood
  protection

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Graduate Research

• Evaluating the New Brunswick Wetland Conservation
  Policy
• Case studies within the City of Fredericton
• Comparative analysis of projects registered with
  DENV through the EIA or WAWA processes.
• How many approved, denied, avoided and what were
  the conditions

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A Request

• I would be interested in speaking with everyone
  and learning of your experiences while working
  with wetlands.
• If you would be interested in participating in a
  focus group or semi-structured interview please
  let me know.

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• Questions and comments?
• Contact
• Christie Clark
• x11sd_at_unb.ca
• 452.6106