Inefficacy of wetland legislation for conserving Quebec wetlands as revealed by mapping of recent disturbances
详细信息 查看全文
- 作者：Monique Poulin ; Stéphanie Pellerin ; Jérôme Cimon-Morin…
- 关键词：Compensation ; Conservation ; Mitigation ; No net loss ; Restoration ; Wetland policy ; Wetland creation
- 刊名：Wetlands Ecology and Management
- 出版年：2016
- 出版时间：December 2016
- 年：2016
- 卷：24
- 期：6
- 页码：651-665
- 全文大小：576 KB
- 刊物类别：Biomedical and Life Sciences
- 刊物主题：Life Sciences
Hydrobiology
Evolutionary Biology
Ecology - 出版者：Springer Netherlands
- ISSN：1572-9834
- 卷排序：24
文摘
To minimize wetland losses, many jurisdictions have adopted a ‘mitigation sequence’ that requires compliance for permit delivery. This study evaluated the outcome of this sequence in the province of Quebec, Canada, during the 3 years following its adoption in 2006. A case study was then conducted in the St. Lawrence Lowlands (29,096 km2) to compare statistics on delivered permits with losses detected by detailed mapping of disturbances from two periods: 1990 to 2011 and 2006 to 2011. A total of 558 permits were issued, most of which (550) represented 2870 ha of disturbed wetlands; the remaining (8) corresponding to restoration projects. The mitigation sequence was applied for 323 of the permits, mainly with compensations. The type of action undertaken was registered for only 63 % of the compensations with a minimal fraction dedicated to wetland restoration (1 ha) and creation (14 ha), resulting in a net loss of 99 % of the impacted wetland areas. In the case study, 56,681 ha (19 %) of wetlands had been disturbed in the last two decades, of which 22,535 ha were disturbed between 2006 and 2011, mainly by agricultural and forestry activities. No permit was delivered for these two activities according to our compilation. The area disturbed following permit deliverance was about 17–30 times smaller than losses estimated by our detailed mapping, depending on the period considered. Preserving wetlands will require not only mandatory compliance with the mitigation sequence but also efforts to subscribe all types of industries to the process of permit delivery.