FAMI LY
Protecting Watercourses and Wetlands Protects the Island’s Future
When Islanders start thinking about construction season, Greg Wilson hopes they’ll also be thinking about how to protect watercourses and wetlands in the process.
Words by ALANA LAUREN
“The Island’s wetlands and watercourses are very special places. With a growing awareness of climate change and sea level rise, more and more people are recognizing the need to take special care when planning to develop property,” says Greg Wilson, manager of Environmental Land Management for Prince Edward Island.
Environmentally sensitive areas include watercourses such as streams, brooks, ponds, bays, and estuaries. Also included are wetlands like marshes, swamps, and bogs—and, where it applies, the 15-metre buffer zone around them. These are all protected areas under the Environmental Protection Act. Approximately 35 per cent of the world’s wetlands were lost between 1970-2015, and PEI has seen its share. For decades we have diked, drained and filled in these
▲ Greg Wilson
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