Wetland Protection in Canada

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Canada possesses nearly 25 per cent of the world's wetland area, covering more than 127 million hectares (Federal Policy, 1991). Wetlands include bogs, fens, marshes, swamps and shallow water. The federal government defines wetlands as "land that is saturated with water long enough to promote wetland or aquatic processes as indicated by poorly drained soils, hydrophytic vegetation and various kinds of biological activity which are adapted to a wet environment" (Rubec and Lynch-Stewart, 1998).

Several federal and provincial policies now exist which to some degree promote wetland conservation. The federal government's objective for wetland conservation is to "promote the conservation of Canada's wetlands to sustain their ecological and socio-economic functions, now and in the future" (Federal Policy, 1991). The policy includes promoting research on the "impact of climate change" on Canada's wetlands (Rubec and Lynch-Stewart, 1998).

All of Canada's provinces have put in place non-regulatory wetland management programs. Four provinces have developed specific wetland conservation policies, including Ontario and the three Prairie provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Quebec has instituted some regulatory measures through several pieces of legislation. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are developing provincial policies, while Prince Edward Island has regulated every wetland on the island, protecting them through various legislative instruments (Rubec, pers. com., 1999).

In the past decade, voluntary, non-governmental initiatives have also become increasingly prominent. Partnerships are flourishing between government agencies, non-governmental organizations, the resource industry, private landowners, and local communities. These partnerships are often based on the integration of environmental concerns with social priorities and economic opportunity.

In 1992 nearly all the nations in the world signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC), and more than 160 nations have subsequently ratified this agreement (www.unfccc.de). The agreement establishes a long-term goal to stabilize atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system. The Convention states that "Each party shall...limit its anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases and protect and enhance its greenhouse gas sinks and reservoirs" (National Sinks Table, 1998). The Convention defines a sink as "any process, activity or mechanism which removes a greenhouse gas, an aerosol, or a precursor of a greenhouse gas from the atmosphere." Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide can be reduced by photosynthesis and sequestration in various components of terrestrial, oceanic, and freshwater ecosystems (Bruce et al., 1998). The Convention defines a source as "any process or activity which releases a greenhouse gas, an aerosol, or a precursor of a greenhouse gas into the atmosphere." Reservoirs are defined as "a component or components of a climate system where a greenhouse gas or a precursor of a greenhouse gas is stored" (National Sinks Table, 1998).

In April of 1997 Canada established a series of national advisory tables to provide the issue analysis, options development, and consensus-building required to develop Canada's strategy for international climate change negotiations. The mandate of the Sinks Table is to identify the state of knowledge, gaps and challenges surrounding the issue of biological sinks as they relate to forestry and agriculture "and any other biological sinks that may be identified" (National Sinks Table, 1998). The Sinks Table is undertaking a series of studies to move forward domestically and internationally on sinks, including forests, agricultural soils, and wetlands.

Adopted to help fulfill the FCCC objectives, Canada and it major trading partners signed the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in December of 1997. The Protocol calls for reductions in emissions of significant greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), and nitrous oxide (N₂O). Carbon dioxide is "by far" the most important greenhouse gas influenced directly by human activities (Bruce et al., 1998). To come into force, the Protocol must be formally ratified by 55 Parties to the Convention, including enough Parties listed in Annex 1 to account for 55 per cent of CO2 emissions in 1990 (www.unfccc.de). The Protocol reaffirms commitments to relevant international environmental agreements, such as the Rio conventions on biological diversity and desertification.

In addition to emission reductions, the Protocol calls for Annex 1 countries to quantify the removal of greenhouse gases in specified sinks. Article 3 states that the Parties will include the "net changes in greenhouse gas emissions from sources and removals by sinks resulting from direct human-induced land use change and forestry activities, limited to afforestation, reforestation, and deforestation since 1990, measured as verifiable changes in stocks in each commitment period" (Kyoto Protocol, 1997). These sinks will be added to or subtracted from Parties' gross emissions when assessing changes over 2008-2012. This Article has given rise to the popular, informal term the "Kyoto Forest."

The Protocol does not include sequestration in agricultural soils or wetlands. However, article 3.4 specifies that subsequent meetings would determine rules and guidelines for including additional human-induced activities in the "agricultural soil" and land-use change and forestry categories (Kyoto Protocol 1997). Should agricultural soils become recognized under the Protocol, this step could strengthen the case for including wetlands. "The agricultural lands of Canada include localized wetlands. Those wetlands may also be included if agricultural soils sinks are included in the Protocol" (National Sinks Table, 1998).

Notably, under the Protocol, Annex 1 nations such as Canada are permitted to acquire emission reductions or greenhouse gas removals from other Annex 1 Parties. Specifically, Article 6 states that nations "may transfer to, or acquire from, any other such Party emission reduction units resulting from projects aimed at reducing anthropogenic emissions by sources or enhancing anthropogenic removals by sinks of greenhouse gases in any sector of the economy" (Kyoto Protocol, 1997). This provision creates significant prospects and opportunities at the international level. It remains unclear whether additional land use, land-use change and forestry activities that do not currently qualify as sinks under the Protocol can qualify when performed in another country (National Sinks Table, 1998).

As well, in Article 12 the Protocol establishes a Clean Development Mechanism whereby Annex 1 countries may collaborate with a nation not listed in Annex 1 on projects for achieving emission reductions in that other nation. The Annex 1 nation may apply any resulting certified emission reductions toward meeting its own commitments. Sink activities are not explicitly included in Article 12, although most countries seem to agree they should be included (National Sinks Table, 1998).

Canada's National Sinks Table suggests that the failure of the Kyoto Protocol to account for wetlands "leaves an ecological information vacuum in the effects of wetlands on the atmosphere, and falls short of the FCCC goal — 'to protect and enhance sinks.'" While wetlands constitute a major carbon reservoir, they can function as either greenhouse gas sinks or sources depending on their type and ambient conditions (National Sinks Table, 1998).

Wetlands contain a large global carbon reservoir, exceeding agroecosystems and temperate forests (National Sinks Table, 1998). Wetlands cover 6 per cent of the world's land surface but 14 per cent of the terrestrial biosphere carbon pool (National Sinks Table, 1998). In addition, coastal salt marshes and mangroves are considered the most important marine ecosystems for carbon sequestration. According to NATO (1995), when peatlands are included, wetlands represent the largest component of the global terrestrial biosphere carbon pool (National Sinks Table, 1998).

The loss and degradation of reservoirs can result in releases of large amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, negating gains made from emission reductions. In Canada, the federal government estimates that since 1800, about 20 million hectares, or one-seventh of Canada's total wetland base, have been drained or lost to other functions. Millions of more hectares have been seriously degraded or are at imminent risk. Over half the potholes in the central prairies have been lost or degraded (Federal Policy, 1991).

The failure of the Kyoto Protocol to effectively address biological sources and sinks has spurred considerable ambiguity. For example, the German Advisory Council on Global Change supports the idea of linking climate protection and the conservation of sinks. However, the Council considers the form in which "land-use change and forestry" activities are accounted for under the Kyoto Protocol to be in need of improvement if climate protection and biodiversity conservation are to be achieved. The Council believes that the present accounting approach can lead to incentives with detrimental effects upon climate protection, biodiversity conservation, and soil protection (Patterson and Mrena, 1998).

Follow-up work since Kyoto has attempted to clarify the biological source-sink scenario. The June 1998 meeting of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice to the FCCC (SBSTA-8) acknowledged that the land-use change and forestry category is really three: land use, land-use change and forestry. This recognition may signify that activities such as agriculture or those pertaining to wetlands could eventually be included under land use. As it is, agricultural and wetland areas may gain qualification under the category of land-use change (Rubec, pers. com., 1999).

In the summer and fall of 1998, Parties were invited to submit information related to Articles 3.3 and 3.4 on additional sink activities. As well, the SBSTA has requested that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change prepare a Special Report on Land Use, Land-Use Change, and Forestry that will examine the implications of dealing with sinks in a limited fashion. A technical workshop on Article 3.3 took place in Rome at the end of September, 1998, and the 4th Convention of the Parties (COP-4) was held in Buenos Aires in November of 1998. However, at neither gathering did participants give serious consideration to the inclusion of wetlands as carbon sinks (Lindwall, pers. com., 1999).

Canadian scientists face several significant questions regarding the potential for carbon sequestration in wetlands. The fundamental question is whether wetlands can be managed as net carbon sinks over time. "The key phrase in the Kyoto Protocol for international acceptance is 'verifiable changes in stock'" (Bruce et al., 1998). Currently, no complete carbon balance studies that include net ecosystem production and respiration exist on southern Canadian wetlands (National Sinks Table, 1998). Participants of the carbon flux workshop in Downsview expressed the concern that the short-term framework of the Kyoto commitment periods makes it difficult to account for carbon sequestration in wetlands, which occurs over hundreds or possibly thousands of years (Murkin, pers. com., 1999).

When assessing the benefits of pursuing carbon storage in wetlands, the effects of this action on other gases must be considered. Natural peat-forming wetlands store carbon but at the same time release small quantities of nitrous oxide and larger amounts of methane. When wetlands are drained and converted to other uses, large quantities of carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide are released, while methane emissions drop or are removed (National Sinks Table, 1998). Although carbon dioxide is much more abundant in the atmosphere, molecule for molecule nitrous oxide and methane are more potent greenhouse gases (Bruce et al., 1998). According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, in terms of heat-trapping potential over 100 years, 1 kg of nitrous oxide is equivalent to about 310 kg of carbon dioxide, and 1 kg of methane is equivalent to about 21 kg of carbon dioxide (Bruce et al., 1998). Researchers are currently addressing this issue throughout Canada as it pertains to agricultural lands (National Sinks Table, 1998).

Sinks also raise a number of political issues. Canada's substantial holding of global wetland areas (nearly 25 per cent) could be viewed internationally as an unfair advantage in meeting its commitments. This perception could potentially jeopardize the inclusion of wetland sinks in the Protocol (Lindwall, pers. com., 1999). A similar concern faces those advocating inclusion of agricultural soils. "The issue is sometimes viewed as one of North America versus the rest of the world. Many perceive carbon soil sinks as a North American licence to avoid confronting anthropogenic emissions from energy use" (Bruce et al., 1998). Indeed, one of the objectives of the Sinks Table is to recommend additional sinks activities for inclusion in the Protocol that do not put Canada itself at an unfair "disadvantage" (National Sinks Table, 1998).

The Sinks Table has expressed concern that the current knowledge of carbon inventories and fluxes in wetlands remains highly deficient compared with that for forests and agricultural lands. Canada's forestry and agricultural sectors are globally competitive, market-driven industries supported by substantial public, private and academic research and development infrastructures (National Sinks Table, 1998). Each sector has a long and extensive research history on carbon dynamics as they relate to site and crop productivity. Still, research gaps exist in both areas. With regard to forests, considerable investments into research and information technology are yet required before Canada will be able to provide "internationally credible estimates" of verifiable changes in carbon stocks (National Sinks Table, 1998). Similarly, with regard to agricultural soils, the Sinks Table suggests "large uncertainties" exist as to how much carbon can be sequestered, and advises that soil carbon gains need to be measured more reliably (National Sinks Table, 1998). These potential hurdles to quantifying carbon cycling in forests and agricultural soils may impede efforts to have the Kyoto Protocol recognize the more poorly understood carbon fluxes of wetlands.

© 1999 International Institute for Sustainable Development