G21-P003 Incentivize Farms to Increase Biodiversity

Submitter Name

Peter Varty

Ratification Vote Results: Adopted

Proposal

GPC supports incentive payments for farmers to achieve greater biodiversity and ecological resilience by: a) reserving at least 3% of natural habitat per farm, and b) improving natural habitat with; i) grasslands, ii) tree growth, iii) fence lines with mixed native species connecting habitat patches, iv) optimum field size and v) crop diversity.

Objective

1) To maintain or increase the biodiversity and ecological services of wild species, by improving natural habitats, while also increasing carbon sequestration and flood and drought control.

2) To develop a scientific protocol to relate improved natural habitat on farms to appropriate payments.

Benefit

Improving natural habitat will result in more biodiversity of many desirable wild species and improve ecological resilience and ecological services such as pollination, pest control, carbon sequestration and mitigation of drought and floods.

Supporting Comments from Submitter

About 85% of Canada's farmland has maintained its habitat capacity, such as it is, in the last 15 years but 14% of our farmland has decreased in capacity over that period (1). "The vast majority of wildlife species (close to 90%) associated with agricultural land depend upon natural or semi-natural land-cover types, such as woodlands, wetlands or grasslands, to provide essential breeding and feeding habitat (1)."

There is a precedent in the European Union to provide incentives for farmers to manage their properties so that 3-7% farmland is an ecological focus area. This improvement of natural habitat resulted in about 37-75% of maximum species richness (2) and while still below optimum, nevertheless supports an incentive for a minimum 3% of natural habitat on each farm, in Canada. However, Canadian farmers should not have to bear the full economic cost for the public good of improving diversity with more natural habitat on farmland. There is a clear role for government incentives.

Fahrig reported "consistent increases in biodiversity with decreasing average field size, across eight very different agricultural regions in five countries - and for a wide array of wildlife types (3)." As autonomous tractors become available it may well be possible to reduce field size, especially with an incentive to do so. One farmer in the future may operate ten tractors which are easy to turn in small fields, from one device, rather than one large tractor with wide equipment on a large field. Under current practices, field sizes are still increasing (1).

In defense of preserving even small habitat patches, Fahrig provides evidence that a more fragmented pattern of a given habitat type implies more intermingling of that habitat type with other habitat types (4). She notes that all species responded favourably to more forest habitat, even if in small patches and argues for policies to acknowledge the conservation value of all bits of habitat.

There is scientific evidence that improved natural habitat will result in more biodiversity of wild species and improve ecological resilience and ecological services (1, 2, 3, 4). It is expected that measurements of natural habitat characteristics can be conducted quickly and cost effectively, with aerial sensors. These measurements can be used in a scientific protocol to integrate gradations of improved natural habitat on farms and thus assign appropriate payments.

1. Agriculture and Agri-food Canada. 2020. Wildlife Habitat Capacity on Farmland Indicator. Available from:

https://www.agr.gc.ca/eng/agriculture-and-climate/agricultural-practices...

2. Cormont, A. et al. 2016. Landscape complexity and farmland biodiversity: Evaluating the CAP target on natural elements. J. Nature Conservation, 30: 19-26.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnc.2015.12.006

3. Fahrig, L. 2020. Smaller farmer's fields can reduce biodiversity loss and increase wild plants, birds, beetles and bats. The Conversation, July, 2020. Available from:

https://theconversation.com/smaller-farmers-fields-can-reduce-biodiversi…

4. Fahrig, L. 2019. Habitat fragmentation: A long and tangled tale. Global Ecology and Biogeography 28: 33-41.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/geb.12839

Green Value(s)

Ecological Wisdom, Sustainability

Relation to Existing Policy

Add to current GPC policy.