Our Wetlands Must Be Protected

The following is a brief summary of our comments as we have commented fully by email to IAAC in a 32 page submission.

Cambridge Butterfly Conservatory acknowledges, accepts and is supportive of progress and growth in Waterloo Region.  We acknowledge that airport expansion in some form may be necessary, but we are opposed to the extension of runway 14-32 as it will have a tremendously harmful and enduring effect on one of the last remaining Spruce bogs in the Region, and a Provincially Significant Wetland, the Kossuth Wetland Complex.  

Further we find there is little merit in the proponent’s persistent argument that extending runway 14-32 is necessary because of “diversions to other airports due to inclement weather.”  We can find no compelling evidence this is the case and further the proponent has, to the best of our knowledge, never provided any data to support this assumption. 

The extension of runway 14-32 at Waterloo Region International Airport is a very costly endeavour that will have serious detrimental and permanent environmental consequences.  If this project were to advance, it could potentially cause the felling of an estimated 2000 mature trees in a Provincially Significant Wetland known as the Kossuth Wetland Complex.  This 12ha woodlot is on private property, Cambridge Butterfly Conservatory lands, and is part of a wetland complex that includes the Kossuth Bog, one of the last remaining Spruce bogs in the Region of Waterloo.  The Natural Heritage Information Network of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNR) has designated the site as a PSW and as an International Biological Programme Site. The Region of Waterloo has designated the Kossuth Bog as an Environmental Sensitive Policy Area (ESPA) due to the presence of sensitive and provincially significant flora and fauna. The Kossuth Wetland Complex is also safeguarded in the Region of Waterloo Official Plan (2015).

Over the last 200 years, the Grand River Watershed has lost close to 65% of its wetlands primarily due to land conversion.  Restoring, maintaining and preserving wetlands are and should remain a priority for governments at all levels. Wetlands are essential to the environment - they assist in moderating water flow by absorbing surface water runoff. Wetlands help in reducing flooding and they provide habitat to a diverse number of animals, songbirds, amphibians, reptiles and insects.

The conservation and restoration of wetlands can be an effective tool to help protect communities and help Ontarians mitigate and adapt to climate change.  While climate change poses a serious threat to wetlands, the conservation of wetlands play an important role in mitigating climate change by reducing greenhouse gas concentrations, regulating temperature, reducing the heat-island effect (the added heat that builds up in urban areas), slowing the impacts of droughts and reducing flood and erosion risks that impact water quality.  Forested wetlands, like that of the Kossuth Wetland Complex, are especially important because they can store significant amounts of carbon.

It is also important to note we are concerned for several Species at Risk that would be impacted should runway 14-32 be extended.  The following species are listed as threatened under Ontario’s Endangered Species Act (ESA 2007) and have been documented to have habitat in the Kossuth Wetland Complex:

Bobolink, Eastern Meadowlark and Blanding’s Turtle (The Blanding’s turtle is also listed as endangered under the IUCN Red List, a critical indicator of the health of the world’s biodiversity).

The following species are listed as special concern under Ontario’s Endangered Species Act (ESA 2007) and have been documented in the area:  Eastern Wood-Pewee, Wood Thrush, Grasshopper Sparrow and Snapping Turtle. The Kossuth Wetland Complex is also a candidate habitat for three bat species listed as endangered under Ontario’s Endangered Species Act (ESA 2007): Little brown myotis, Northern myotis, and Tri-coloured bat.

At this crucial turning point in climate change history, with all the effort this country, this province and indeed this Region has devoted to mitigating climate change, protecting our natural resources and conserving our natural heritage, the question we have is why Waterloo Region International Airport would consider any intrusion into one of the Region’s and the province’s most significant wetland complexes for such a noncritical and uncompelling reason.

Cambridge Butterfly Conservatory is proud to be a part of a community that is committed to progress, but let’s not confuse progress with the laying of asphalt – perhaps progress in this instance is recognizing that the protection of our wetlands is more important than the occasional inconvenience of a few passengers.