Abstracts

Presented by John K. Pattison-Williams - Email: jk.pattisonwilliams@gmail.com

The degradation and loss of North American wetlands over the last century has had an impact on biodiversity— including waterfowl—across the continent. In Canada, such loss of wetlands has been a concern for provincial governments across the political spectrum. Diverse policy approaches for conservation across the Prairie Provinces of Canada have led to varied success to mitigate this trend. A common theme in wetland conservation approaches in the last two decades has been concept of ecosystem services. Using case studies, this presentation will review the economic feasibility of wetlands to address pressing environmental concerns in four Canadian provinces in a social return on investment framework. Results will be explained, limitations explored and the future of market-based instruments to enhance waterfowl and wetland conservation initiatives will be discussed.