The Eastern Habitat Joint Venture is a partnership established on 15 November 1989 between governments, organizations, and conservation groups in eastern

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

to protect and enhance

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

s important to

migratory birds Bird migration is the regular seasonal movement, often north and south along a flyway, between breeding and wintering grounds. Many species of bird migrate. Migration carries high costs in predation and mortality, including from hunting by ...

, under the auspices of the

North American Waterfowl Management Plan The North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP) is an international plan to conserve waterfowl and migratory birds in North America. It was established in 1986 by Canada and the United States, and expanded to include Mexico in 1994. In the Uni ...

. The founding partners were the six easternmost

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

(

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

and

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen Provinces and territories of Canada, provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has seve ...

), the

Canadian Wildlife Service The Canadian Wildlife Service or CWS (french: Service canadien de la faune), is a Branch of the Department of the Environment (Environment and Climate Change Canada), a department of the Government of Canada. November 1, 2012 marked the 65th ann ...

(a branch of

Environment and Climate Change Canada Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC; french: Environnement et Changement climatique Canada),Environment and Climate Change Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of the Environment ...

Ducks Unlimited Canada Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) is a Canadian non-profit organization that works to conserve, restore and manage Canadian wetlands in order to preserve habitat for North American waterfowl, wildlife and people. They work with industry leaders, gover ...

, and Wildlife Habitat Canada. As a signatory, each province was expected to develop and implement its own program.

Objectives

The initial goals of the plan at founding were to conserve approximately 18,000 km² of wetlands in the eastern provinces by 2004. These wetlands are important to waterfowl and other migratory birds that use the Atlantic Flyway.

Programs

Ontario

In Ontario, the program is administered by the

, the

Ministry of Natural Resources An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment, ...

, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs,

, the

Nature Conservancy of Canada The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) is a private, non-profit, charitable nature conservation and restoration organization based in Canada. Since its founding in 1962, the organization and its partners have protected of land and water across ...

and Wildlife Habitat Canada.

Prince Edward Island

Small-scale programs include the ''Small Marsh Program'' initiated by the

government of Prince Edward Island The Government of Prince Edward Island refers to the provincial government of the province of Prince Edward Island. Its powers and structure are set out in the Constitution Act, 1867. In modern Canadian use, the term "government" referred broadly ...

, in which landowners of

marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...

es with an area up to may apply for restoration of those wetlands. Approximately twenty sites are restored annually, prioritized "according to their biological value". The cost is borne by the program and its sponsors, and the landowners must sign an "agreement to maintain the restored wetland for a 25-year period". Prince Edward Island also operates a ''Wetland Stewardship Program'' within the scope of the Eastern Habitat Joint Venture. From 1991 to 2003, it protected 60 km² of upland and wetland habitat in the province, in which soil

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is distin ...

is the most significant environmental issue.

Quebec

The Quebec component of the program involves a partnership between Ducks Unlimited Canada, Nature Conservancy of Canada, the Fondation de la faune du Québec, the Ministère du Développement durable, de l’Environnement et des Parcs, the Ministère des Ressources naturelles et de la Faune, and the Canadian Wildlife Service of Environment Canada. In Quebec, nearly half of all program funding from this project is devoted to the

biosphere reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or o ...

Lac Saint-Pierre Lake Saint Pierre (; abe, Nebesek) is a lake in Quebec, Canada, a widening of the Saint Lawrence River between Sorel-Tracy and Trois-Rivières. It is located downstream, and northeast, of Montreal; and upstream, and southwest, of Quebec City. T ...

and its environs, encompassing 35 km² of nationally significant wetlands. The activities of the Quebec partnership focus primarily on "the protection of habitats and the restoration of wetlands along the

St. Lawrence Saint Lawrence or Laurence ( la, Laurentius, lit. " laurelled"; 31 December AD 225 – 10 August 258) was one of the seven deacons of the city of Rome under Pope Sixtus II who were martyred in the persecution of the Christians that the Roma ...

and

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

rivers".

Newfoundland and Labrador

The program is administered by the provincial Department of Fisheries and Land Resources' Wildlife Division through a partnership with the Stewardship Association of Municipalities, along with partners

, Nature Conservancy Canada,

, and Wildlife Habitat Canada.

Notes

References

* * * * * * * * * {{North American Waterfowl Management Plan North American Waterfowl Management Plan Nature conservation organizations based in Canada 1989 establishments in Canada