Wetland conservation will be the topic of discussion at Rodd Brudenell Resort as the biennial meeting of the North American Wetland Conservation Council takes place this week in the Kings County resort.
About 70 delegates from Canada, the United States and Mexico will be reviewing the North American Waterfowl Management Plan that was implemented in 1991 to ensure the conservation of wetlands and management of habitats for wetland dependent plants and animals.
“The NAWMP has been instrumental in some of the conservation projects on our Island and the meetings provide a wonderful opportunity for the delegates to see some of those projects and the variety of wetlands that exist on Prince Edward Island,” says George Webster, Minister of Environment, Energy and Forestry, who will speak at the meeting dinner on Tuesday evening.
Canada and The United States signed the original Plan in 1986 and Mexico joined in 1994.
The Plan is a partnership of federal, provincial/state and municipal governments, private companies, non-governmental organizations and individuals.
Over $1.5 billion has been allocated since the Plan’s inception conserving more than two million hectares of wetland ecosystems in North America.
Projects on Prince Edward Island that have been assisted by the Plan are restoration work on Fullerton’s Marsh and Allisary Creek in Mt Stewart, as well as the conservation of Bird Island in Malpeque Bay.
The delegates will be touring several sites in central and eastern PEI during their stay on the Island.