Why you should care about wetlands

On Tuesday, Jan. 13, an article by Alex Lambert appeared in The Brandon Sun about a new development proposal for an area south of Brandon that is called “South Village.”

In the middle of this parcel of land is a 90-acre class IV wetland. Since European settlement, wetlands were seen as wastelands. Here on the Prairies when agriculture became the driving economic force, wetlands were seen as a barrier to growing crops, a feature having a negative impact on the livelihood of most farmers. Wetlands were seen as land you couldn’t farm and therefore in need of being drained or filled in so you could grow crops.

Since European settlement, it is estimated that we have lost up to 70 per cent of the wetland areas here in Manitoba. We have drained and/or filled in wetlands in order to build communities and homes, shopping centres, roads, and to expand cropland. This activity was viewed as progress.

You may be asking, why should I care about wetlands? If landowners want to drain them or fill them in, that’s not my problem. It turns out it could be your problem; it could be everyone’s problem.

Wetlands are important ecosystems especially in flood- or drought-prone regions. The plants and soil soak up water like a sponge and hang on to it, slowly releasing it out to the surrounding land as things dry up. This is important during extreme rain events and even during the normal spring melts. Water is able to pool into the wetland rather than your basement. During our dry summers, there is water still available, which helps keep our water cycle in balance. Water that isn’t slowed down by wetlands leaves an area quickly eroding the land and giving the water table no opportunity to replenish.

Wetlands are often called nature’s kidneys because they filter out pollutants and excess nutrients like phosphorous from water. In an agricultural area such as Brandon, this can help keep these excess nutrients our of our drinking water.

Another important feature of wetlands is that they play a crucial role as a carbon sink. They store approximately 20 per cent of the planet’s organic ecosystem carbon even though they only cover one per cent of the Earth’s surface. They also act as a heat sink for our warming summers.

Last but not least, wetlands provide critical habitat for a variety of plant and animal species. Wetlands are among the Earth’s most productive and biodiverse ecosystems.

So what does all this mean for us in relation to the South Village development?

It means that we all need to pay attention to how the land is developed and what protection is in place for this 90-acre Class IV wetland that has been there since the last glacier receded 10,000 years ago.

That wetland is more than just a green space. It holds the key to keeping our water clean, mitigating flooding especially for the houses and shopping centres being built on this property or those developments nearby, it will act as a carbon sink and a heat sink, it will be habitat for birds, amphibians, insects, mammals and plant species that are an important part of our diverse world.

As this property is developed, it is important to make protecting the wetland our top priority. Once it’s lost, all the benefits are lost, and wetland restoration is an expensive and poor substitute for the real thing.

SUSTAINABLE BRANDON