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King Campbell, head of agriculture programs for Ducks Unlimited Canada in B.C., leads a session on biodiversity planning for producers
Biodiversity planning available to B.C. farmers and ranchers 
Surrey, B.C.., Oct 6, 2008 —The Canada-B.C. Agricultural Policy Framework Environmental Farm Plan (EFP) Working Group is pleased to announce that under the EFP program a new biodiversity planning process is available to B.C. farmers and ranchers.
Thirty-two planning advisors from around the province recently completed a one-day biodiversity training program held in Prince George, Kelowna and Abbotsford. The training session follows the completion of the latest in the EFP suite of publications entitled, Planning for Biodiversity: A Guide for B.C. Farmers and Ranchers.
“This publication is a first attempt to provide an on-farm assessment and planning tool for biodiversity in North America,” said David Trotter, agro-forestry specialist with the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands. “It differs from the other EFP documents in that it is not a risk assessment but rather an assessment of opportunities that producers might want to consider.”
The development of the publication and the training were made possible through funding from the EFP program, the Ministry of Environment and Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) and extensive staff support from those agencies as well as staff support from Agriculture and Agri-food Canada, the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, Environment Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the B.C. Agriculture Council (BCAC).
In order to test the guide, Ducks Unlimited Canada has recently made funding available to cover the costs of completing 60 on-farm plans. “Biodiversity planning has benefits for the producer, the landscape and all British Columbians and we want to be part of that process,” explains King Campbell with DUC. “This is in addition to Ducks Unlimited Canada’s contribution of $525,000 to the Environmental Farm Plan Program since 2005. This money has been leveraged to help fund more than $5 million in environmental farm projects in B.C.”
“Biodiversity is one of the four Agriculture Policy Framework pillars and it has had the least amount of attention to date,” said Linda Allison, chair of the EFP Working Group. “We hope that producers will take advantage of the opportunity to explore management options for their farms and ranches.”
Producers interested in completing a biodiversity plan can contact Angela McKee at the BCAC office in Abbotsford at 1-800-522-3447 or angela@bcac.bc.ca.For more information contact:
Wendy Fister, w_fister@ducks.ca
Marketing & Communications Specialist
Ducks Unlimited Canada
Phone: (604) 312-4632
