Getting Down to Business - Finding a Balance
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Municipal Councils are liable for the impacts of any decisions that are made. Meanwhile, nature and wildlife are interconnected, and wetlands, where most have taken thousands of years to develop, are dynamic and support 70% of fish and wildlife including generations to come. Ontario, south of Algonquin Park and the Canadian Shield has already lost over 80% of wetlands, affecting wildlife and ecosystem services. The final strongholds of wetlands and wildlife remain across The Land Between, and these assets support water and wildlife based ecosystem services in a majority of southern Ontario.
Therefore, any development of remaining will have cascading effects that often cannot be measured. Also, few tools exist to help inform municipal decisions, and while ignorance or a lack of capacity does not serve as a viable excuse to alleviate the burden of liability for counsellors, we can provide more information and identify processes in order to mitigate detrimental impacts of decisions and ensure our communities achieve a balance and sustain nature's inherent capacity to support our health and wellbeing.
Easy Wetland Protection
Given the innumerable and interconnected functions and services provided by wetlands, especially in Ontario's Highlands, from supporting lake levels, to filtering waters, regulating floods, and supporting fish and wildlife, policies to protect wetlands from frivolous development are essential. Municipal councils should apply the precautionary principle to avoid the destruction of key services that benefit their communities over the long term. Known as medicine places, wetlands are vital for our economies and health.
A Last Resort- Offsetting
Development pressure is increasing due to growing populations and immigration giving rise to the demand for housing. Additionally, resources to support settlement such as aggregate for roads are a factor in the increasing population. While many municipalities are adapting by applying proactive measures to guide the weight of this influx, such as natural heritage plans, and unique site alteration bylaws or planning permits incongruent development can occur and harm the foundations of our ecosystem services enduringly.
Offsetting is a last resort in these cases, and can only be somewhat effective after extensive research and planning, to replace the functions that are lost. Also because municipal liability is a consideration.
WW mapping and subsequent field-truthing may be beneficial in assessing lost ecosystem functions. Additionally, it is highly recommended that offsetting occur far in advance of any development to support the evaluation of measures, and to the adoption of the new wetland by wildlife or creation of some conditions that may support water regulation.
Decision Trees for Councils
Use these guides to interpret the WW mapping and assess functions of wetlands and select best outcomes for community watershed security and healthy wildlife populations.
See models of municipal leadership across the region.