Columbia River Wetlands – Canada

Background Columbia River Wetlands

The Columbia River Wetlands are located in the Rocky Mountains rift valley. The Rocky Mountains form the boundary in the east and the Purcell Mountains in the west. The rift is 1,600 km long and 5 to 5 km wide. The Columbia River Wetlands are 180 km long and covers an area of 201 sq. km. Two lakes (Columbia Lake, the headwaters of the Columbia River, a critical water source for the Pacific north west region of north America, and Windermere Lake) as well as seasonally flooded marshes and back channels form the wetlands.

The region is part of the 44,000 sq. km East-Kootenay-Region, located in the southeast corner of British Columbia Canada, with a population of 60,000 people. However, resident and visitor populations are growing rapidly with a one year 30 % increase in visitor statistics.

The region is home to 100,000 large mammals, 11 different species. Among them are Grizzly and Black bear, Wolf, Cougar, Wolverine, Elk, Moose, Mountain Caribou, Mountain Goat, Big Horn Sheep, White-tailed Deer and Black-tailed Deer (Mule Deer).

300 pairs of Great Blue Heron, 1,200 Canada Geese, 24 pairs of Osprey and the Common Loon are among the avian species that nest in the Columbia Wetlands. This landscape is one of the last natural pathways left for migratory birds. 15,000 waterfowl in the autumn and more than 1,000 tundra swans in the spring have been counted in single day bird counts.

On June 5, 2005, The Columbia Wetlands, in recognition of their Global ecological significance, were designated as Canada''s newest Ramsar Site, the first in over seven years and only the third in British Columbia. The Convention on Wetlands, signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971, is an intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources.

In summer 2010, the regional Living Lakes Network Canada was created by the NGOs Wildsight, Lake Winnipeg Foundation and Global Nature Fund.

Further information about the Network Canada ...