Conservation Conservation Projects Manitoba The Best of the Best: Conserving and Restoring High Priority Waterfowl Habitat in Manitoba 2009-10

The Best of the Best: Conserving and Restoring High Priority Waterfowl Habitat in Manitoba 2009-10

Conserving and Restoring High Priority Waterfowl Habitat in Manitoba Final Project Report 2009/2010 (pdf)

Goals and Objectives

Project partners share a vision of sustainable agricultural landscapes with a richness of natural features capable of sustaining diverse and abundant wildlife populations as well as other important ecological goods and services, like clean water and carbon sequestration, for human needs and ecological integrity.

Within that landscape goal, specific objectives of this project include:

  1. Long-term protection of wetland and associated habitats that are of high value to waterfowl and are under significant threat of loss or degradation due to agricultural and related development.
  2. With partner funding, restore wetlands that have been previously drained.
  3. Support core objectives of 2007-2012 Manitoba Implementation Plan for the North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP).
  4. Demonstrate the multiple benefits of wetland protection to biological diversity, to watershed management and to rural communities in the agricultural landscape.

Specific objectives for funds requested from Wildlife Habitat Canada are for protection, by Conservation Easement (CE), of 725 acres of wetlands and adjacent upland habitat. On those habitat areas protected, Manitoba Habitat Heritage Corporation (MHHC) will restore approximately 30 wetlands previously drained for agricultural use. MHHC’s overall activities will include protection of approximately 2,750 acres of high priority waterfowl habitat in the Manitoba NAWMP priority landscapes in 2009/10.

Activities

This project focuses on the delivery of perpetual conservation easements (CEs) and emphasizes the highest priority wetlands for waterfowl production as identified in the 2007 – 2012 NAWMP Implementation Plan for Manitoba (MIP).

CE site selection is based on several criteria, including spatial databases that predict the highest priority landscapes for waterfowl. Other considerations include threats from drainage and conversion to agricultural production. These criteria are consistent with the MIP.

The process of signing a CE requires ongoing landowner contacts and a detailed administrative process to sign and legally register the agreement. MHHC is responsible for all these activities. MHHC will deliver WHC-supported CEs within an overall program that includes MHHC delivery of NAWMP CEs that are funded by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. A minimum of 2,000 acres of CEs will be delivered through these sources of support in 2009/10.

With WHC funding in 2009/10, MHHC will deliver an additional 725 acres of CEs on wetland and associated habitats in NAWMP target landscapes. These CEs will contribute directly to NAWMP objectives.

Within that mix of newly secured habitat, MHHC will also restore approximately 30 previously drained wetlands with additional incentive and capital cost funding supplied by Manitoba Water Stewardship. Wetland restoration will consist of filling drainage ditches to wetland water levels to historic conditions. Manitoba Water Stewardship funding will also provide additional incentive funds needed to encourage landowners to adopt wetland restoration as well as construction costs.

Where possible, MHHC will associate its CE field delivery activities with local Conservation Districts that are focused on developing and implementing integrated watershed management plans. The objective is to influence Conservation Districts such that wetland conservation and restoration become prominent elements of watershed plans.

MHHC will retain responsibility for subsequent inventory and monitoring of all CE lands secured through this project.

Specific Habitat Products/Results to be Supported by WHC’s Contributions

WHC funds will be used to secure an estimated 725 acres of wetland and associated habitats with perpetual conservation easements (CEs) signed with an estimated five to ten landowners. Those CEs will ensure that CE wetlands and associated uplands will not be drained, burned, filled, cultivated or otherwise lost due to direct human activity. Wetlands will range from temporary ponds to semi-permanent water bodies, generally less than five hectares in size. This is the range of wetland types that are crucial to the needs of breeding waterfowl in the prairie/parkland region.

Native upland habitats will also be secured in association with protected wetlands. Specific upland habitat types protected will include wet meadows, willow-dominated shrublands and aspen forest. In addition to their importance as habitat for ground-nesting waterfowl and as buffers between wetlands and agricultural operations, these habitats support a diverse array of other birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians.

The estimated 30 wetlands (approximately 50 acres of wetland, total) restored will increase in surface area and water permanence from their current, impacted state. Wetland functions are expected to substantially return to restored wetlands within five years or less and, given the fact that they are all secured in perpetuity, will deliver the full breadth of wetland benefits over the long term.

Purchased perpetual Conservation Easements (CEs) are the tool of choice because they afford permanent protection that can be focused on privately-owned natural lands. They also provide financial incentives to landowners to conserve habitat and do not affect the use of adjacent agricultural lands.

Benefits to Waterfowl, Wetlands-Associated Species, and/or Other Wildlife

At least 16 species of waterfowl and over 200 species of waterbirds, shorebirds and landbirds will benefit from these wetland conservation activities. A wide array of mammals, reptiles and amphibians will also benefits from habitats conserved through this project.

Relevance to Habitat Planning, Decision Making and/or Management

MHHC, as a key NAWMP delivery agency in Manitoba, will deliver project activities within the framework of objectives established in the 2007-2012 Manitoba NAWMP implementation plan (MIP). Retention of existing, high value habitats is a key objective in MIP, as is wetland restoration. Further, MIP directs NAWMP partners to focus habitat protection activities to the highest priority habitats. All CEs in this project will be delivered in one of the MIP’s five Priority Landscapes.

As a Crown Corporation reporting to Manitoba Water Stewardship, MHHC has the opportunity to mesh habitat delivery priorities in the Manitoba NAWMP Implementation Plan with integrated watershed planning and management activities being delivered by Manitoba Water Stewardship and Conservation Districts. This project will foster such links be work with local Conservation Districts wherever possible. That will help achieve multiple environmental objectives and will help raise the level of awareness of wetland conservation and restoration within integrated watershed management initiatives.

Project Location

The project location is found within the Manitoba NAWMP Program Area within southwestern Manitoba (see map). Conservation Easements (CEs) under this proposal will be delivered in target landscapes identified in the 2007-2012 Manitoba NAWMP Implementation Plan.

The project will emphasize landscapes identified by the NAWMP Decision Support System (DSS) as being of high value for waterfowl (greater than 30 waterfowl pairs/mi2). Wetlands and associated habitats at risk of drainage and/or conversion to agricultural production will be emphasized. Where possible, WHC funds will be delivered in areas in which integrated watershed management plans are being developed or implemented.

The project location is found within in the Aspen Parkland Ecoregion (as defined by Manitoba Conservation) of the Prairie Ecozone. From a continental, all-bird conservation framework perspective, the project area is located in BCR 11, the Prairie Potholes.

The entire project area is within the glaciated prairie pothole region. It is dominated by small wetlands, one hectare in size or less. Approximately 95% of the landscape is privately owned, and agriculture, including a mix of livestock, grains and oilseeds, is the primary land use. Wetland loss since the beginning of European settlement has been estimated to range from 40% to 70% (Environment Canada). More recent wetland loss rates estimated for Manitoba’s Aspen Parkland and Boreal Transition regions (Watmough et al, 2008) have been estimated at 4% from 1985 to 1999.

Agricultural production intensification continues to erode the habitat base. Land clearing for agricultural development and wetland drainage are the primarily impacts. As average farm size increases, production efficiencies pursued by larger farm operations are accelerating wetland loss rates. From a watershed standpoint, loss of these natural landscape features is resulting in increased peak flows, higher soil erosion rates and increased siltation in waterways.

Target landscapes are found within the boundaries of a number of community-based Conservation Districts (CDs) that have been tasked under Manitoba’s Water Protection Act (2006) with the role of developing and implementing integrated watershed management plans. In addition to being an active participant in several planning processes, MHHC has established delivery partnerships with two CDs in NAWMP target landscapes to deliver CEs on high priority source water protection lands identified by the CDs. This affords MHHC the opportunity to mesh broader source water conservation objectives with NAWMP habitat conservation objectives in several landscapes of common interest.

 

Project Contact

For more information on this project, please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , A/Chief Executive Officer, The Manitoba Habitat Heritage Corporation, Winnipeg, Manitoba.