DUC at the forefront

DUC and other conservation groups have been at the forefront in bringing a wider understanding of the value of ecological goods and services. Most recently, through the partnership with the Canadian Boreal Initiative, DUC was involved in a report titled The Real Wealth of Canada’s Boreal Region: An Assessment of Canada’s Boreal Ecosystem Values by Mark Anielski and Sara Wilson, which examined the value of ecosystem services of Canada’s expansive boreal region. Prior to that, DUC and the Nature Conservancy of Canada commissioned economist Nancy Olewiler of Simon Fraser University to produce one of the first economic assessments of ecological goods and services in Canada in 2004.

Olewiler determined that the economic value of the goods and services of wetlands in the Lower British Columbia mainland is between $5,792 and $24,330 per hectare annually. Olewiler also found that some of the land in western Manitoba would be worth more to society as natural landscapes rather than being farmed. However, Olewiler’s analysis illustrates that agricultural lands have an important economic value in producing food and providing other ecological goods and services.

“Those services are critical to the health of the Canadian economy,” says Gabor. “If our society benefits from them, then we should be paying farmers to maintain and enhance them.”

Under the APF, farmers are now getting financial and technical help to do just that. The first step for landowners is to complete an Environmental Farm Plan or EFP. EFP workshops and detailed manuals identify potential impacts on the environment and show landowners how to enhance their stewardship and address any environmental risks.

“Interest in doing EFPs is extremely high because it shows farmers where their environmental risks are and helps them develop an action plan to deal with them,” says Smith. Soil erosion, water quality, pesticide storage and use, and soil nutrient loading are just a few of the issues that farmers are addressing in their EFP action plans in order to address neighbour and public concerns as well as government regulations.

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