Expansion of the Keppel Quarry

This post was initiated as a result of the following letter to the editor: http://www.owensoundsuntimes.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2176199
Basically, we have a company that wants to expand a quarry onto property that abuts a Provincially Significant Wetland (PSW).   Information on PSWs can be found here: http://www.greatlakesdirectory.org/GLAHNF_wetlands_packet/wetlands_fact_sheets/ON_fact_sheet.htm
As you can see from reading this, PSWs are not that well protected.  The point that I would like to make is that it is not enough to protect the wetland itself because its health (and therefore its environmental value) is dependent on its interactions with its surroundings.  Any disturbance adjacent to any ecosystem will have an impact on the ecosystem itself.  Of course the farther away the disturbance is the less the impact will be, but still it is impossible to say that there will be no effect. We know that disturbance leads to loss of species and that results in a loss of diversity.  No one can say that this particular PSW will not be harmed.  Even if all seems to be OK that will almost surely not be the case.
The only reliable long term solution is to protect land that surrounds natural areas as well as the natural areas themselves.  There has to be recognizance of the fact that there is limited value in preserving small islands of natural areas.  Rather the bigger the better.  One good example of this is the small woodlot on the east side of Owen Sound that is soon going to disappear to build shopping malls.  Even if this small woodlot was preserved its environmental value would be very limited because it would be totally surrounded by asphalt.  It would be far better to ask the developer to provide funds to preserve natural areas where we can get more environmental bang for our environmental buck.