Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
10
RebuildingWetlandsand
WaterfowlResourcesin
NorthandSouthAmerica
Importance of Capacity
Building and Landscape
Perspective
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CONTENTS
Introduction............................................................................................................ 157
Regional Management Prioritization ..................................................................... 159
Management Approach .......................................................................................... 160
Case Studies ........................................................................................................... 163
The Pantanal...................................................................................................... 164
Delta Marsh....................................................................................................... 165
Ring Water Basin............................................................................................... 165
Chesapeake Bay ................................................................................................ 168
Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 169
Acknowledgment ................................................................................................... 169
References.............................................................................................................. 169
INTRODUCTION
The marshes of southern Iraq comprised one of the most ecologically important
wetland ecosystems in the entire world (Patrow 2001; Evans 2002; France 2009). It
has been estimated that as many as 3 million birds from over one hundred waterfowl
species used the marshes during their annual migration to and from Africa and cen-
tral Russia. Pictures by Nik Wheeler in Young (1977) show skies completely filled
with thousands of birds in flight, and he and Young sustained themselves during
their trips there in the 1970s by hunting coots and wild ducks whenever possible
(Wheeler 2007). There is, of course, a long tradition in relying upon the birdlife in
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Adapted by Robert L. France from Young, D., and B. Batt. 2004. Rebuilding wetlands and water-
fowl resources. Paper presented at the Mesopotamian Marshes and Modern Development: Practical
Approaches to Sustaining Restored Ecological and Cultural Landscapes conference, Cambridge,
MA, October.
157
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