R ising global temperatures are melting glaciers and sea ice, pouring an excess of water into Earth’s oceans. This is being exacerbated by the fact that our region’s landmass is also slowly sinking after the last ice age. According to research by the University of Prince Edward Island’s Climate Lab, an average of 28 centimetres of coastline is eroding on PEI each year. That puts more than 1,000 homes, cottages, and commercial buildings; 17 lighthouses; and ten bridges at risk over the next 70 years. While there is no way to stop what has already started, there are some places on the Island where natural solutions can lessen the impact of rising seas. That’s why wetland conservation organization Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) is restoring salt marshes along the coast. “Given the effects of sea-level rise we’re seeing here, it’s become increasingly important to restore salt marshes where possible, and to think about how we develop, live, and work along the coast,” says Jonathan Platts, DUC’s PEI-based conservation specialist. Fullerton’s Marsh is a 67-hectare estuary that also encompasses a 20-hectare freshwater wetland managed by DUC. The marsh sits on Fullerton’s Creek near Stratford, with an old rail line running down the middle of it. When those tracks were put in, in the late 1800s, the earthen mound built to support the tracks acted like a dike, separating the south end of the marsh from salt water flowing in from the Northumberland Strait via Fullerton’s Creek. In the 1940s, the province decommissioned the rail line, and ten years later provincial staff approached DUC about managing what had essentially become a freshwater marsh on the south side of the tracks. DUC continues to manage the site as a freshwater marsh, but now higher tides are eroding the dike faster than it can be fixed.
Fullerton’s Marsh is a perfect example of the tidal marsh restoration work DUC has started to focus on. This year, DUC’s conservation team will begin engaging the public on whether to let the tides back into the freshwater portion of Fullerton’s Marsh for the first time in almost a century. If this project proceeds, within a year or two salt marsh plants, including salt grass, will stabilize the wetland as it transitions. As a renewed salt marsh, this area will act as a coastal buffer against rising sea levels and stronger storms and will help to decrease the energy produced by waves, which, in turn, will prevent erosion along the shore. It will also provide habitat for a variety of wildlife and waterfowl. “With climate change, we’re seeing more black ducks stay the winter here in Atlantic Canada,” says Platts. “Black ducks are a species-of-concern here. Having more over-wintering tidal habitat could be beneficial for them, since the birds would be in better condition come the breeding season.” Ducks Unlimited Canada is striving to be a leader in conserving wetlands and manage infrastructure on the coast— and they hope others will do the same, because it’s imperative that we need to start thinking critically about how we develop and live on these lands.
▲(L-R) Jonathan Platts, Tom Duffy (Photo: J. Chaisson) ▲ (Above) Glenfinnan Salt Marsh
Ducks Unlimited Canada 420 University Ave., Charlottetown du_charlottetown@ducks.ca www.Ducks.ca
Ducks Unlimited Canada would like to thank Scotiabank for sponsoring this article and for supporting wetland conservation and awareness in PEI.
SPRING 2020 www.pei-living.ca
59
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker