Wetland Landscapes: Exploring Marsh Refrains in Norfolk County, Ontario

Abstract

Southern Ontario is an exciting place to study our relationship with wetland landscapes, as almost 75% of these ecosystems have been transformed and seized for urban or agricultural development, although the rate of wetland loss may recently be decreasing (Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, 2017; Ontario Biodiversity Council, 2015). This thesis is constructed around fieldwork conducted in Norfolk County during the late summer of 2020 and extensive engagement with various marsh complexes within the region. This research aims to present a more holistic understanding of our current relationship with wetland environments in Southern Ontario. This includes situating the wetland landscapes of Norfolk County within the infrastructures of the local Great Lakes region and the global and affective entanglements of the Anthropocene. Additionally, we explore certain co-constitutive present-day relationships that approximate people to wetland refrains. Finally, this research highlights the political intricacies of wetland management. Through this work, I will describe the complexities of these environments and demonstrate how being attuned to wetland landscape temporalities may be the best way to reterritorialize the wetland landscape.