“I had the chance to visit the area surrounding the Jackson River a few years ago. Here we can see a frontier between human settlement and biodiversity-rich landscape. Together, marshes, streams, lakes and peaty swamps form a lacy mosaic with conifer and maple forests. This landscape is not only wild and beautiful, but it provides ecosystem services to local residents, as well as those living further away. One of the most obvious is protecting, purifying and producing water of high quality. Yet, even more important is carbon capture and storage. We all know that management of our lavish carbon usage is sorely needed – so here nature plays a key role, not just for the watershed, but for Canada and beyond. For all these reasons, beauty and utility, I strongly support the idea of a project developing local cooperation for integrated water management in and around this 20 square kilometers conservation area. It will be good locally and a beacon of hope globally.”

Dr. Peter Bridgewater Chairman of the UK’s statutory Joint Nature Conservation Committee and former Secretary General of the Ramsar Convention on the Protection of Wetlands of International Importance and Secretary of UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme