RIDEAU VALLEY, Nov. 21, 2022 – Wetlands are among our planet’s most critical natural features, and key to helping communities manage climate change, worsening storms and extreme weather into an uncertain future.

Yet Ontario's wetlands are increasingly under threat, with reduced wetland protections paving the way for more housing. 

But hope is not lost. Land trusts like the Rideau Valley Conservation Foundation protect wetlands before they are destroyed forever – in fact, the Foundation already protects more than 1,500 acres of pristine natural lands across the Rideau Valley. These lands include vast wetland complexes, upland forests, shoreline properties and critical habitat.

With your help, we can afford to protect even more.

Donations to our Steve Simmering Conservation Lands Endowment Fund this giving season will help the Foundation cover annual maintenance costs for the natural lands we already own - and give us the confidence to accept future land donations knowing we have the funds to maintain them in perpetuity. 

Even natural, undeveloped land costs money to maintain – up to $60,000 per property over time for property taxes, safety inspections and signage – and interest from the Simmering endowment covers these annual costs each year. The principal remains invested to create a steady flow of cash year after year.

Paving our wetlands would put more communities in the path of extreme floods, reduce drinking water quality and contribute to the rapid biodiversity collapse taking over the globe. Not to mention, these critical carbon sinks would no longer pull immense amounts of carbon dioxide out of our warming atmosphere.

This giving season, give wetlands a fighting chance. Visit www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/63940 to donate today. 

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The Rideau Valley Conservation Foundation is a registered environmental charity working to help protect and conserve the lands and waters of the valley of the Rideau River in Eastern Ontario. For more information visit www.rvcf.ca.