LWF opposes destruction of wetlands
2012 02 02 LWF on World Wetlands Day and Peat
LWF Executive Director, Erin Keating, Karin Boyd, Bruce Smith, Catherine and Alex Salki, and Dick Dawson were among the concerned citizens who gathered outside the Manitoba Legislature today, to recognize World Wetlands Day and to speak on behalf of wetland protection.
February 2nd, 2012 WORLD WETLANDS DAY
Speaker: Mr. Alex Salki, Chair LWF Science Advisory Council
The Lake Winnipeg Foundation encourages the preservation of existing wetlands, the restoration of degraded wetlands, and the development of new wetlands centered on technological and institutional requirements for wetland management and governance.
As Peat extraction is destructive of wetlands the LWF does not endorse peat operations being permitted anywhere in the Province.
Parks should be spaces reserved for habitat and biodiversity protection for present and future generations.
Recent scientific findings have confirmed that rapid eutrophication of Lake Winnipeg during the past 20 yrs is driven mainly by phosphorus transported to it from diffuse watershed sources by more frequent and extensive Red River floods.
We believe that increasing Red River flooding is a consequence of climate warming. According to our POSITION STATEMENT ON CLIMATE CHANGE “…the Lake Winnipeg Foundation supports policies and practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”
As Peat extraction is a net GHG contributor, the LWF opposes peat operations anywhere in the Province of Manitoba.
The reduction in GHG emissions resulting from a ban on Peat extraction would be in keeping with provincial legislation, The Climate Change and Emissions Reduction Act (June 2008). It would also support the spirit and intent of the Save Lake Winnipeg Act
In summary, the LWF considers peat extraction to be unnecessary and unsustainable and urges the Manitoba Government to support development and use of alternative processes and products, such as the conversion of dairy manure into horticultural products and bio-gas. Nutrient reduction to Lake Winnipeg would be a welcome co-benefit of this approach.
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LWF POSITION STATEMENT ON CLIMATE CHANGE
Global climate warming, from human-driven increases in atmospheric CO2 with associated changes in rainfall, runoff, evaporation, ice duration, and temperatures in the Lake Winnipeg watershed, is impacting the Lake Winnipeg ecosystem.
Extreme hydrological events, such as flooding and drought, are becoming more common and are detrimental to the lake’s ecology and biodiversity. Increasing water temperatures are contributing to proliferation of toxic blue green algae and to invertebrate species changes which ultimately influence the Lake Winnipeg fish community.
The Lake Winnipeg Foundation supports policies and practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Supporting article: JGLR Hydrological forcing of a recent trophic surge in Lake Wpg by G McCullough et al