Protecting Our Natural Ecosystems
For decades, Manitoba’s natural ecosystems have been taken for granted and their existence has become threatened as a result. For example, 70 percent of Manitoba’s wetland habitats have already been drained, damaged or destroyed as a result of agricultural and urban development. This has resulted in increased flooding, greater greenhouse gas emissions, and more nutrient run-off into our waterways.
Rarely do we recognize that our natural ecosystems are a vital part of the provincial infrastructure that protects us from flooding, mitigates climate change, and sustains our economy. Taking our ecosystems for granted has already come with both serious environmental and substantial economic costs.
We must take immediate action to ensure that Manitoba’s ecosystems are protected and preserved. It is our intergenerational obligation to ensure future generations are able to enjoy the natural environments that contribute to their emotional and physical well-being.
To ensure that Manitoba’s ecosystems are preserved for future generations, the Green Party of Manitoba will:
Prevent further pollution to Manitoba’s lakes and rivers
- Work cooperatively with the City of Winnipeg and the federal government to upgrade Winnipeg’s sewage treatment system to prevent diluted raw effluent from being spilled into the Red River
- Mandate the strengthening and enforcement of manure management regulations for hog barns, chicken barns and feedlots in the Red River Basin to eliminate manure run-off
Restore Manitoba’s wetlands and protect the health of our waterways
- Create a grant program for farmers to move ponds and wetlands around their land for convenient farming, as long as the water is retained
- Use tax incentives to encourage the replacement of the natural water retention capacity where potholes and sloughs have been removed
- Protect government owned wetlands and prohibit further wetland drainage
- Ensure that all public right of ways, including ditches, road allowances, lagoons and drainage ditches, preserve as much natural wetland habitat as possible
Preserve and restore Manitoba’s boreal forests
- In consultation with Indigenous communities having claim to territory through traditional occupation and/or use, identify areas to be preserved and protected for hunting, fishing and gathering purposes
- Require that all woodland operations, including logging, be done in a way that ensures the regeneration of the affected forest
- End clear-cutting in provincial parks, and promote healthy reforestation projects
Ban harmful resource extraction methods
- Ban the mining of peat lands, which are the filter for Lake Winnipeg
- Ban fracking, in order to prevent contamination of groundwater with toxic chemicals
- Ban uranium mining and exploration