By Landowners, for landowners: tour showcases examples of biodiversity, conservation ‘best practices’

By: Fernando Arce, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Tilbury Times Reporter

Landowners and local farmers in the Chatham-Kent region, where over 90 per cent of the land is under agricultural use, are no strangers to water issues.

Jim McKinley, for instance, has been actively working with the Chatham-Ken drainage department and the Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority to address concerns about erosion occurring on his farm along the drain.

Earlier this month, his farm became a real-life example of how to use both natural and engineered infrastructures to manage water quantity issues during the 4th annual Cultivating Conservation Tour.

“Erosion control features such as wetlands and berms were incorporated into the drain to help slow the release of water through the drainage system,” explained Donna Small, agricultural program coordinator for the Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority, which organized the tour. “This project is a great example of addressing the rising concerns about water quantity on farmland.”

The tour, which took place on Sept. 11, featured six sites, including McKinley’s, to help other landowners learn the importance of biodiversity and best conservation practices from each other.

The tour also celebrated the five-year anniversary of the farmer-led Alternative Land Use Services (ALUS) initiative, which promotes “nature-based solutions” for farmers and ranchers by “building new acres of nature on marginal lands,” according to the website.

“The goal of the interactive tour is to increase awareness about regional environmental issues while providing examples of solutions that have been implemented by landowners,” Small told the Milton Reporter. She said this year over 100 people participated, surpassing the previous maximum of 60.

The six project examples included a tallgrass prairie, exclusion fencing for livestock management, cover crops, wetlands, tree planting and green infrastructure. Many of them were by ALUS participants, and they all “provide examples of natural features that are working towards the goal of improving water quality in the Lake Erie Basin.”

Attendants learned about soil health, water quality concerns, natural succession, marginal land restoration and species at risk.

Small says the tour was also an opportunity to remind the public that the Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority “can provide technical and financial incentives to help landowners implement stewardship projects on their own properties.”

“I think it is important to be able to provide real life examples of what landowners can do to make a change. Even if it is just planting a few trees on their property, it will make a difference to benefit our environment,” she says. “The hope is that getting people outdoors and seeing the success of a project might spark something in them to do the same.”