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Ducks Unlimited Canada Continues the Fight to Save Canada's Threatened
Wetlands 
TORONTO, April 2 - Sixty years of national wetland habitat conservation were celebrated on March 31, 1998, as a new Ducks Unlimited project was launched at the Ontario Science Centre in Toronto.
"Our 60th celebrations recognize the accomplishments we have made in providing practical solutions for wetland and waterfowl conservation,'' said Don Young, executive vice-president, Ducks Unlimited Canada. Founded in 1938, Ducks Unlimited is a private nonprofit charitable organization that has invested over $800 million in the protection of more that 18 million acres of wetland habitat in Canada.
A wetland is an area where water and land meet to create a rich habitat for a variety of plants and animals. More than 24 per cent of the world's wetlands are in Canada, adding up to 314 million acres that support a wide array of wildlife. Wetlands are considered vital to the health of the entire ecosystem, acting as earth's natural sponges to control soil erosion, replenish ground water, absorb floodwaters and clean polluted surface water. Unfortunately many wetlands are lost to development. In Southern Ontario alone, over 80 per cent of the wetlands have already disappeared.
With nearly 5,000 projects completed across the country, Ducks Unlimited employs hundreds of biologists, research scientists, agrologists and engineers in the field, and has a further 130,000 supporters and members, assisting in more than 850 fundraising initatives each year.
According to a recent Angus Reid study, Ducks Unlimited is Canada's most trusted and respected conservation organization. The study noted that Canadians rank pollution first and habitat loss second as environmental concerns - both of which are addressed directly by Ducks Unlimited's conservation programs.
