P.E.I. expands ALUS program provincewide

Prince Edward Island farmers and landowners who take on environmental preservation projects on their land may now be eligible for compensation under a new Alternative Land Use Services (ALUS) program.

P.E.I.’s ALUS will operate on a $750,000 budget in 2008, the province announced Thursday.

The concept was hailed by provincial environmental groups and other dignitaries as a “revolutionary” system that will pay farmers for the ecological goods and services Islanders receive from a properly-managed landscape.

“Properly managed land produces clean air, generates oxygen, traps carbon and filters the groundwater that all Islanders rely on for drinking,” Environment Minister George Webster said in a release. “The problem has been that farmers and other landowners have never been properly rewarded for the services they provide through proper land use.

“For too long we have worried about the environmental impact of land use without providing a real benefit to those people who make the commitment to use land in a sustainable way,” he said.

Under ALUS, a committee of stakeholders will design a program of incentives for farmers that could include financial payments, tax measures or other “special considerations.”

“This announcement is a starting point from which we look forward to seeing the program achieve its true potential,” P.E.I. Federation of Agriculture president John Colwill said.

Thinking national

The ALUS concept was originally developed by Keystone Agricultural Producers, a Manitoba general farmers’ group, and by Delta Waterfowl in an agricultural and conservation partnership. A pilot ALUS project is in its third year in the Manitoba RM of Blanshard.

The program, as first proposed, would provide funding to farmers for their work on initiatives such as riparian areas, waterfowl and wildlife habitat, clean water, flood control or carbon sequestration.

The Canadian Federation of Agriculture and KAP said Friday that they “remain committed to working with our partners in P.E.I. and across Canada to create a national ALUS program.”

Another ALUS pilot was recently expanded in an Ontario county and ALUS projects have also been proposed in Alberta and Saskatchewan, KAP noted in a separate release.

“It’s really exciting to have watched ALUS grow from an idea to a proposal that was supported by farmers and conservationists across the country, and now to a full-scale provincial program,” said KAP president Ian Wishart, a Portage la Prairie, Man. farmer who spearheaded the first ALUS pilot, referring to the P.E.I. announcement.

“Farmers from across the country are ready, willing, and able to be the leaders in environmental stewardship,” said CFA president Bob Friesen, a Wawanesa, Man. farmer. “In response, the government of Prince Edward Island has made a strong commitment to farmers.”