September 2016 nawmp.wetlandnetwork.ca HabitatMatters 2016 Canadian NAWMP Report “Offshore Wind – Surf Scoters” from the 2016 Canadian Wildlife Habitat Conservation Stamp series. Artist: Pierre Leduc, Stoneham (QC) North American Waterfowl Management Plan —— Plan nord-américain de gestion de la sauvagine —— Plan de Manejo de Aves 2016 Canadian North American Waterfowl Management Plan Report AcuáticasHabitat MattersNorteaméricaa TableContents of 1 About the NAWMP 2 National Overview 2 Accomplishments 3 Expenditures and Contributions 4 Special Feature – A Year of Milestones 6 Habitat Joint Ventures 7 Pacific Birds Habitat Joint Venture 14 Canadian Intermountain Joint Venture 18 Prairie Habitat Joint Venture 24 Eastern Habitat Joint Venture 28 Species Joint Ventures 29 Black Duck Joint Venture 32 Sea Duck Joint Venture 34 Arctic Goose Joint Venture 36 Partners b Habitat Matters 2016 Canadian North American Waterfowl Management Plan Report About the NAWMP Mallards landing on water. The North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP or Ducks Unlimited Canada ‘the Plan’) is an international partnership to restore, conserve and protect waterfowl populations and associated habitats through management decisions based on strong biological waterfowl populations. Mexico became a signatory to foundations. The ultimate goal is to achieve abundant and the Plan with its update in 1994. As a result, the NAWMP resilient waterfowl populations and sustainable landscapes. partnership extends across North America, working at national The Plan engages the community of users and supporters and regional levels on a variety of waterfowl and habitat committed to conservation and valuing waterfowl. management issues. In 1986, the Canadian and American governments signed this Since the creation of the Plan, NAWMP partners have worked international partnership agreement, laying the foundation to conserve and restore wetlands, associated uplands and for international cooperation in the recovery of declining other key habitats for waterfowl across Canada, the United States and Mexico. The partners have had wide-ranging influence: shaping land-use, agricultural and public policies; Terminology used in this report integrating science and monitoring systems into planning; and Securement The protection of wetland and/or upland habitat through land title delivering habitat programs. The results of these efforts are transfer or binding long-term (minimum 10-year) legal agreements notable. Many waterfowl populations are substantially larger with a landowner. now than they were in 1986, and NAWMP partners have reached Influence out to collaborate with other bird conservation initiatives. Direct actions taken by landowners, land managers or conservation agencies that protect or enhance wetland or associated upland habitats without legal or binding agreements. These direct actions In Canada, NAWMP partner activities are directed by public– result in applied land-use changes. private Joint Venture partnerships, which focus on areas or Enhancement species of concern identified in the Plan. Each Joint Venture Actions carried out on wetland and/or upland habitats to increase includes a range of partners from federal, provincial and local their carrying capacity for wetland-associated migratory birds and other wildlife. governments to conservation organizations. Implementation Management and Strategic Plans, developed based on the Plan’s goals as Activities conducted on secured wetland and/or upland habitats to well as on pressures specific to the Joint Ventures, form the manage and maintain their carrying capacity for wetland-associated migratory birds and other wildlife. basis of each Joint Venture’s programs and individual projects. 2016 Canadian North American Waterfowl Management Plan Report Habitat Matters 1 Financial incentives and legislated protection help ensure wetland securement and enhancement. Ducks Unlimited Canada NationalOverview Accomplishments by Habitat Joint Ventures (1986–2016) 20.0 139.4 3.6 11.7 Million acres of habitat Million acres of habitat Million acres of habitat Million acres of habitat secured influenced enhanced managed (8.1 M Hectares) (56.4 M Hectares) (1.5 M Hectares) (4.7 M Hectares) Involves the protection Involves direct actions Involves actions that Involves activities that of habitat through land that protect or enhance increase habitat carrying manage and maintain title transfer or binding habitat without legal or capacity for waterfowl habitat carrying capacity legal agreements with binding agreements. and other wildlife. for waterfowl and other landowners These actions result in wildlife. (10-year minimum). applied land-use change. Accomplishments by Habitat Joint Ventures (2015–2016) 104.6 487.7 778.4 650.2 Thousand acres of habitat Thousand acres of habitat Thousand acres of habitat Thousand acres of habitat secured influenced enhanced managed (42.3 K Hectares) (197.4 K Hectares) (315.0 K Hectares) (263.1 K Hectares) 2 Habitat Matters 2016 Canadian North American Waterfowl Management Plan Report Expenditures Contributions By activity 1986 to 2016 In support of the NAWMP in Canada 1986 to 2016 ($2,194 M CAD) ($2,218 M CAD) U.S. Non-Federal $506 M Securement U.S. Federal $953 M $569 M Influence Other Acvies1 Total U.S. $173 M $333 M $1,075 M Enhancement $294 M Management $264 M Total 3 Habitat JV Science Species JV $2,218 M $99 M Acvies2 1 Coordinaon, communicaon, $78 M policy and crop damage 2 Banding, survey and research The successful implementation of Canada’s NAWMP Total Canadian program has been enabled by the continuous support $1,143 M of partners in both Canada and the United States, including federal, provincial/territorial and state governments, non-governmental organizations and individuals. In particular, funding received under Canadian Other the United States’ 1989 North American Wetlands $456 M Conservation Act has been integral to the success and longevity of the Canadian program. Canadian Federal $380 M 1986-2016 consists of the January 1, 1986 to March 31, 2016 time frame. Canadian Provincial & Territorial 2015-2016 consists of the April 1, 2015 to March 31, 2016 time frame. $307 M 3 Includes $0.2 M in internaonal contribuons 2016 Canadian North American Waterfowl Management Plan Report Habitat Matters 3 A Year of Milestones Flock of Mallards. Ducks Unlimited Canada NAWMP’s 30th Anniversary and MBC’s 100th Anniversary The skies of North America were once filled with birds making their annual migrations between winter feeding and summer breeding grounds. Their numbers were plentiful enough to darken the skies, and they provided a seemingly endless bounty for new settlers. Presented with such an abundant resource, people hunted By the late 19th century, a waterfowl and other bird species year round without limits or seasonal restrictions. At the same time, habitat such as wetlands, forests, coastlines, and grasslands were conservation movement drained and cleared as human settlements expanded across the continent. had begun and it would Eventually, the pressures upon migratory bird species led to disappearances. lead to one of the first The Great Auk and the Labrador Duck went extinct in the 1880s, and the last international treaties on Passenger Pigeon, “Martha,” died in the Cincinnati Zoo in 1914. The problem was wildlife conservation. irrefutable, and dire. By the late 19th century, a conservation movement had begun and it would lead to one of the first international treaties on wildlife conservation. Signed on August 16, 1916, the Migratory Birds Convention (MBC) between Canada and the United States was intended to regulate bird harvesting and “to ensure the long-term conservation of migratory birds.” The MBC and subsequent legislation in both Canada and the United States established a framework for conservation that persists to this day. 4 Habitat Matters 2016 Canadian North American Waterfowl Management Plan Report A century after the Migratory Birds Convention was signed, nearly 400 species of migratory birds are protected in Canada under the Migratory Birds Convention Act. Northern Pintail brood. Ducks Unlimited Canada In Canada, regulation under the 1917 Migratory Birds A century after the MBC was signed, nearly 400 species of Convention Act (MBCA) put in place for the first time a migratory birds are protected in Canada under the MBCA. framework for sustainable harvest of bird species. Ninety-two Migratory Bird Sanctuaries provide safe refuge for migratory birds, and seven Joint Venture partnerships protect Unfortunately, migratory bird species were not out of danger. millions of hectares of habitat for migratory birds across North American migratory waterfowl populations plummeted Canada. Most waterfowl populations are considered healthy. to record lows, and the waterfowl conservation community Species like the Trumpeter Swan have been brought back from recognized that an international partnership was needed to the edge of disappearance, and recovery efforts are underway facilitate the recovery of declining waterfowl populations. for many other migratory bird populations considered at risk Wetland habitat, critical to waterfowl survival and breeding, under the Species at Risk Act. was disappearing at an alarming rate. Drainage for agriculture, urban infrastructure, and other human developments Despite the many accomplishments, the mission continues. damaged or destroyed over 50% of the original wetlands Habitat continues to be lost or compromised in the face of in the continental United States