NPCA pitches restoration projects as a way to complement, improve working farmlands

By Luke Edwards

With agricultural lands making up nearly two thirds of the Niagara watershed, the agency in charge of protecting that watershed continues to look for ways to partner with local farmers.

Geoffrey Verkade, the senior manager of integrated watershed strategies with the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority, was a guest speaker at last month’s Niagara Federation of Agriculture annual general meeting. Verkade shared some of the programs they offer that could help fund restoration projects on local farms.

He stressed that when it comes to conservation, it’s not an either-or scenario.

“When NPCA talks about watershed management, we’re not talking about separating agriculture and conservation. We’re talking about understanding how working landscapes and natural systems function together,” Verkade said.

The agency received funding through the Ontario Agricultural Sustainability Initiative to operate a marginal lands program as part of the Rural Agricultural Landscape Program. This was the major program Verkade pitched as he talked to local farmers.

“The program is designed to support farmers with an Environmental Farm Plan that’s fourth generation or later in making agricultural lands more productive and resilient,” he said.

“This could be an excellent mechanism for implementing projects that may otherwise be difficult to fund.”

With high up-front costs being one of the major barriers for such projects, Verkade said the program can cover up to 90 per cent of the costs. Tree and shrub plantings, establishing buffer zones, wildlife restoration and pollinator habitat establishment are all types of projects that can be covered. It can turn a patch of marginal farmland or a difficult-to-farm corner of a property into something that helps the watershed, and ultimately the rest of the farm.

“The health of streams, wetlands, forests and agricultural lands are interconnected,” Verkade said.

For farmers taking part in their programs, Verkade said NPCA staff and experts will be there to help from start to finish, providing advice and helping to fill out forms.

Verkade touched on a few other related programs in his presentation. Trees for All works to increase the tree canopy in the watershed. One key component of the program that often gets overlooked are the efforts to produce and keep seeds of native species.

And while the NPCA remains interested in bringing the ALUS program to Niagara - there have been discussions about it for a few years - Verkade said the current focus is on delivering the existing programs.

Historically there was more of a focus on individual projects, but with new funding through programs like RALP Verkade said they can take a broader view.

For more information on NPCA’s funding programs visit npca.ca/restoration. 