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$103M Plan Urged to Save Wetlands

Government weighs proposal to pay farmers to stop farming near conservation areas

Reproduced by permission from The Ottawa Citizen, November 12, 2001.

By Tom Spears

Five federal departments are weighing a proposal to pay farmers $103 million a year to stop farming on poor-quality farmland in and around wetlands.

If adopted the nation-wide plan could convert more than 2.3 million hectares (23,000 square kilometres) of marginal farmland to small but vital conservation areas, all still privately held. The proposal comes from Ducks Unlimited, and is modeled on a popular and successful program that has done the same job in the United States for 15 years.

The goal, says Ducks Unlimited, goes far beyond giving ducks a nesting place; it will make rivers and drinking water cleaner, keep fish and frogs healthy, and stop wells from going dry. And it says the environmental benefits have an economic value worth $90 million per year more than the costs.

It estimates 170,000 hectares of Ontario farmland should be converted to protected buffers along rivers and wetlands.

While the government hasn't said yes, it's clearly serious about the proposed Conservation Cover Incentive Program.

Three federal ministers (of agriculture, environment and natural resources) have met Ducks Unlimited officials to discuss it, as have 13 MPs, a deputy minister, seven assistant deputy ministers and a couple of dozen other federal officials, and eight provincial agriculture ministers. Agriculture Canada has seconded one of its economists to Ducks Unlimited for four months to analyse details.

"We're still losing wetlands at an alarming rate," says Barry Turner, who heads Ducks Unlimited's Ottawa office.

"We're talking largely about the back 40" - land alongside creeks and ponds, not major rivers.

"This kind of farmland isn't the big, beautiful fields," but smaller areas that farmers are only cultivating because they need to make every square centimetre of land count.

"If forests are the lungs of the Earth, the wetlands are the kidneys," he said. "They filter your water and clean it. They cleaned the water you brushed you teeth with this morning."

"The big message is that governments should take these lands out of production. And if you own this land, you're going to ask: What's in it for me? You should be paid."

Ducks Unlimited has studied three main river valleys: the Grand near Guelph in Ontario, the Assiniboine in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, and the Mill in Prince Edward Island.

All are damaged by being farmed right to the water's edge, which causes erosion into the water, and by having wetlands drained along the way. This makes rain and melting snow drain away faster, making droughts more dangerous and causing some wells to dry up.

Manure is also a problem, especially in the Grand. The group notes that Environment Commissioner Johanne Gélinas reported this month that manure spread on Ontario and Quebec farms is greater than the amount of sewage 100 million people would produce. This contaminates lakes and rivers, yet the federal government "is not working effectively with the provinces to manage the problem, nor has it any formal plan in place," she wrote.

"You can't dump this stuff on the surface of Mother Earth and not do damage," Mr. Turner said. "This isn't over. It's going to get worse before it gets better."

Senior officials at Environment Canada and Agriculture Canada confirm the plan is being studied by several federal departments, but add that there are already government plans in effect that aim to conserve some farmland for wildlife.

In the North American Waterfowl Management Plan, a joint Canada-U.S. plan to protect ducks and geese, "we've had that kind of program in place where appropriate cover is being put on the landscape" for the same reason, said Robert McLean at the Canadian Wildlife Service.

Agriculture Canada has adopted environmentally sustainable farming as one of three main aims it must promote. It offers subsidies to convert some low-quality cropland to pasture, which reduces erosion and provides limited wildlife habitat.

But Ducks Unlimited argues this is only a limited gain. "It's better, but it's not as good as it should be," says Brian Gray, conservation director of Ducks Unlimited.

He wants a more ambitious federal wetlands plan to include Fisheries and Oceans, Environment Canada and other departments with a strong environmental background.