| dc.description | Recent developments in wetland policy indicate a move toward multisectoral wetland management structures and a regional interpretation of wetland values and attributes. This regional perspective is especially evident in the new management intent referred to as the 'no-net-loss' goal. Where this is interpreted as 'no-net-loss' of wetland functions, it is important to be able to evaluate the functional relationship between wetlands and the landscapes in which they occur. This cannot, however be achieved using the narrow, site-specific, interest-directed orientation of traditional interpretation, evaluation and management techniques. Regional orientations require an holistic perspective, landscape ecology and environmental planning, have been combined with current knowledge of wetland structure and function to produce an alternative 'Landscape Approach to the Interpretation, Evaluation and Management of Wetlands'. This five-part methodology involves establishing the overall wetland-landscape context and evaluating wetland value and the wetland-landscape relationship from the resource/land use, biophysical and cultural interpretation perspectives. This comprehensive information can then be used to inform regionally-oriented management decisions directed by the 'no-net-loss' goal. The fundamental differences between this approach and other methodologies is the landscape orientation, focusing on the aggregated structural-functional attributes of wetlands and the resulting wetland-landscape relationship. The integration of quantitative and qualitative information provides for an holistic perspective of wetland values and their regional significance. This new approach is demonstrated through a case study application. The relatively small, scattered bogs and swamps typical of Nova Scotia's Chebucto Peninsula are of little interest to resource managers and, as currently assessed, would not be candidates for protection and management in the event of land-use conflicts. The 'Landscape Approach' provides a different interpretation. The region's wetlands exert a weakly moderate to moderately strong influence on biophysical landscape functioning and are regarded by local users as contributing to the overall landscape habitat complex, and supporting the wildlife that are common in this otherwise 'low productivity' setting. This in turn supports a strong local hunting and fishing tradition. The sense of value is heightened by real and perceived land-use conflicts resulting from suburbanization pressures. This different interpretation of wetland function and value can be used to support a positive, conservative, 'no-net-loss' orientation in wetland management, one which is sensitive to local perceptions of value, which preserves and/or enhances the resource attributes of relevance to the region and which retains biophysical wetland-landscape functions and processes. | en_US |
