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| King rail. Photo: Brian Small. |
It’s a wet warm fall. Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) staff and others race to finish off the last of the wetlands and settling ponds they have been building - part of the restoration of southern Ontario’s coastal wetlands - before winter sets in. The landowners – most often livestock and grain farmers - are grateful for the work being done.
They can be seen many times shoulder to shoulder with MNR staff helping to protect their valuable wetlands. They understand how much creating and protecting new (and old) ponds, streams or channels, marshes, fens and bogs means to their farms – retaining and cleansing that oh so necessary element - water.
They also have come to know that it will help the fish, migrating birds and millions of creatures that live in these swampy areas.
There has been a lot of activity in the Rondeau Bay area over the past few years in growing seasons. Following discussions with other landowners, 24 farmers facing similar problems with their land eroding due to run-off, agreed to take part in the first phases of the restoration of Rondeau Bay to its former clear cleaner water. This small bay in Lake Erie has had environmentalists within governments and even the general public like you and me very worried.
Ten projects have been completed so far. They include:
• Restoring or creating new coastal wetlands and connecting channels. Planting native trees and shrubs along buffer strips to help prevent soil being washed away.
• Constructing two-pond systems and integrating them into existing wetlands. One of the ponds collects sediments, the next gathers and holds excess nutrients. This allows microbes and/or aquatic plants placed at various levels within the pond to turn them into “good stuff” instead of pollutants which have been draining into the rivers and creeks that criss-cross the land before spilling into Rondeau Bay for many years
• Prior to the rehabilitation/restoration of each site, controlling a tall invasive reed has to happen. Phragmites australis, as it is called, is deceptively beautiful but clogs the system and prevents effective drainage … and it spreads like wildfire. That project has been intensive and effective.
• And of course there is paper-work – that of developing 15-plus year voluntary conservation agreements to maintain the wetlands. Necessary and enthusiastically endorsed by these farmers.
Why are people worried? Why should we care?
Dr. Janice Gilbert is a wetland ecologist who worked on a project to evaluate the area over a three year period. Explaining the reason for choosing Rondeau Bay she says, “Rondeau Bay is a small watershed - just over 12,000 hectares (nearly 30,000 acres) - compared to others around the Great Lakes. It nestles midway along the north shore of Lake Erie in Carolinian Canada.”
Brian Locke, Lake Manager in the Ministry’s Lake Erie Management Unit adds, “It is an important spawning and nursery area for bass and pike as well as home to the spotted gar – a species at risk.”
Greg Dunn, who also worked on the project, mentions the huge influx of migrating birds stopping to rest and eat on their long flights to Canada’s northern nesting grounds. He says too, “The wetlands along this bay have created a refuge for a large number of rare and threatened species of plants, amphibians, mammals, reptiles like the spiny soft-shelled and Blanding’s turtles, birds such as the King rail, and insects…” that are disappearing all too rapidly.
Who is helping to fix this?
• Ministry biologists pulled together a report that outlined alternatives and best bets for the Rondeau Bay watershed.
• A Partner Advisory Committee was formed including all the agencies involved and representatives from the farming community.
• Ministry staff made presentations and talked one-on-one with land-owners/ farmers – often going door to door or attending farm organization meetings – to tell the story of what needed to be done and how we all can help.
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| Two-pond system. Photo: Jennifer Richards |
First, it was just one interested farmer who decided that setting aside a wet piece of land that only gave him a crop every three or four years might just be worthwhile. He agreed to participate. Several others followed his lead.
But the results of all this pond-digging and tree planting may be seen sooner than we might expect. The new and restored wetlands are monitored closely and within fewer than the seven years predicted everyone hopes to see a huge reduction in the amount of nitrogen, phosphorus and sediments reaching Rondeau Bay. The biologists, Advisory Committee members, COA staff and farmers – all believe the wetlands can be brought back, the water cleaned and important fisheries restored – for commercial fishing as well as recreation. It’s a great good news story and one that is being repeated elsewhere.
Simple solutions to big problems – solutions that work because everyone is pulling together.
We can learn more about restoring, creating and conserving Ontario’s precious wetlands – see also:
• Huron County Stream-Wetland Restoration Project• Conserving/protecting wetlands and encouraging stewardship
• Preserving the biodiversity of the Great Lakes – an overview.
Agency partners working with the Ministry under the 2007-2012 COA :
• Ducks Unlimited Canada
• Environment Canada
• Fisheries and Oceans Canada
• Friends of Rondeau
• Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority
• Municipality of Chatham-Kent
• Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs
• Ontario Ministry of the Environment
• Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association
• Stewardship-Kent (of the Ontario Stewardship Council)
Plus local landowners, crop and live-stock farmers and interested individuals
