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Guiding Principles for Wetland Stewardship and Forest Management – Practitioners Guide
Summary
This resource was submitted by the Climate Risk Institute for theCanAdapt Climate Change Adaptation Community of Practice.
This article is an abridged version of the original text, which can be downloaded from the right-hand column. Please access the original text for more detail, research purposes, full references, or to quote text.
More than two-thirds of Canada’s boreal forest is covered by aquatic ecosystems including wetlands, lakes, rivers and streams. Boreal wetlands provide a wealth of ecological, social, and economic benefits that are important to society as a whole as well as the forest industry.
There is increasing evidence that wetlands and upland forests are interdependent. Because of these connections, sustainable forest management is key to sustaining healthy wetland habitats, and healthy wetlands are key to sustaining productive upland forests.
This practitioner guide provides an introduction to boreal wetlands, identifies key links between boreal wetlands and forest management, and outlines four guiding principles for wetland stewardship along with objectives and planning considerations that can be applied to meet these principles.
For in-depth information and supporting literature on the topics covered in this guide, refer to the accompanying Guiding Principles for Forest Management and Wetland Stewardship Technical Report.
This guide is aimed at forestry professionals involved in forest management planning at the strategic level, but may also be applicable to other forestry professionals in a range of positions. The information in this guide is intended to assist forest managers in achieving improved wetland stewardship by:
- Building an enhanced understanding of wetlands in the Canadian boreal plains ecozone and their value to the forest sector and society as a whole
- Describing the interactions between wetlands, upland forests, and forest management
- Establishing wetland stewardship principles, objectives, and planning considerations that will result in positive environmental outcomes
- Providing practices and tools to consider during forest management planning to help avoid or minimize adverse effects to wetlands
- Identifying knowledge gaps and providing recommendations to fill those gaps