Have you seen the television ads? Those short video reels highlighting the pristine natural areas that our country is known for. It’s no secret – the wetlands are disappearing – and they’re disappearing fast. As we continue to experience the effects of a changing climate, these soggy tracts of land will become our allies in reducing the amount of flooding. It is important to keep them around and incorporate these spaces into development planning. We can no longer afford to hastily “pave paradise to put up a parking lot” (you can sing it if you want to). And you truly don’t know what you got until it really is gone.
This summer season has been another one for the record books. Large urban centres are having a difficult time dealing with the so-called “100-year storms” which seem to occur at least once per year nowadays. As infrastructure continues to age and deteriorate while at the same time urban density is intensifying which creates its own ‘storm’ in itself. It begs the question, “what do we do with all the rainfall?”. It has to go somewhere that isn’t a basement. Suddenly the underestimated capacity of a typical stormwater drain can no longer handle the volume during a single weather event. Many municipalities are struggling to keep up with the ability to invest in upgrading their systems, however they attempt to mitigate the flooding by digging ditches deeper to handle more capacity but forget to assess the condition of nearby culverts that are sunk, crushed or blocking their ability to divert runoff.
Wetlands are often overlooked as diversity-rich refuges for a wide range of wildlife like turtles, snakes, small fish, frogs and insects. They are important food sources for migratory birds but also provide homes for mammals such as beavers, otters, mink and muskrats. These spaces are thriving with life, even if you can’t see it. It’s a natural wastewater system that offers years of efficiency and it doesn’t cost us much of anything to maintain. They have the ability to sequester carbon through various forms of run-off and tributaries that feed them. The ecosystem services that bogs, rivers, streams, marshes, swamps, ponds and floodplains are huge. In fact it’s a well-functioning system that’s worth billions to us and it’s best we don’t disrupt it. Think of them as the planet’s kidneys. Without them it can present even bigger challenges for life to thrive, including ourselves. Many wetlands are evaluated based on their richness while supporting rare wildlife or plant species and these are labeled as “Provincially Significant Wetlands”, which is a designation that seems to mean very little across Ontario in recent years.
It’s very difficult to replicate these habitats and ecosystem services though through careful planning, monitoring and plenty of patience, new techniques could be used should the opportunity arise. Some of those techniques are being put into practice, for example along Toronto’s waterfront in the Port Lands area.
The Fall season is the opportune time to get out to explore the wetlands in various parks and conservation lands across our region. Wetlands are beautiful spaces and they are wonderful to experience. Enjoy a few of the favourite hobbies like dropping a canoe in the river, birdwatching along the shoreline, observing nesting swans at a distance, or turtles lined up on a basking log. Don’t forget to capture that National Geographic style image of a moose standing still in a morning fog! Keep the trash out. Keep the frogs in.
Matt Thomson is a local conservationist based in Severn and enjoys engaging the community through citizen science events & activities. Be sure to follow him on Instagram or Facebook, @ardtreanature.
