Laserfiche WebLink
will serve to preserve the viability of seeds and roots in the <br />material, and minimize the total area which is disturbed and not <br />vegetated at any one time. Carpenter and Farmer (1981) reported <br />that vegetated buffer strips should be left around small <br />excavations as a source of seeds and vegetative stock. As noted <br />in section 5.1, the best means of achieving success when using <br />excavated materials (indigenous rooting stocks) are uncertain and <br />will need to be more fully identified. <br />Fourth, the objective of post- excavation activities should <br />take into account the wetland character of the sites in question <br />and require some form of in -kind reclamation. The goal of <br />reclamation, as stated in the Mineral Rules, is to provide for <br />"the subsequent beneficial use of such affected lands" (MLRB <br />1977). In other situations which involve non - wetland excavations <br />simple revegetation is an acceptable approach. However, in <br />wetland ecosystems this would result in the conversion of the <br />peatland to another ecosystem type. The conversion of peatland <br />areas to either dryland or other wetland types (ie. open water <br />ponds) is now widely recognized as undesirable (Miller 1989). A <br />complete and permanent loss or degradation of the services and <br />functions peatlands provide would result from such conversions. <br />Given that the value of those losses may be great, and at present <br />is largely unaccounted for, reclamation policy should seek to <br />discourage conversion. <br />In -kind reclamation attempts to return to an excavated site <br />the same basic ecosystem type as existed when the area was in its <br />C.:3 <br />