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Who's Rewarding Stewardship?- Recent AESA Conference Addresses This Question

From the Apr 22, 2003 Issue of Alberta Conservation Connection

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Society wants clean water, clean air, better soils and biodiversity. Farmers have always wanted these same things, and in the past shouldered most of the responsibility of environmental stewardship. However, achieving these priorities can be costly, and farmers can no longer afford to bear the total costs themselves.

“At the AESA (Alberta’s Environmentally Sustainable Agriculture) Council, we kept hearing a lot of discussion surrounding these issues, and realized that we needed a new framework or structure to address these issues,” explains John Kolk, AESA Council Chair. “The idea of society valuing Environmental Goods and Services (EGS) is being looked at by many people and groups as the coming wave for environmental action and activities.” Partners are working together to build an industry roadmap. The challenge is to make it work on the ground and build broad support for using market-based solutions and economic instruments to reward environmental stewardship.

“The AESA Council has always tried to take a lead with its annual conference and other activities,” says Kolk. Based on their information, combined with other strategies such as the Ag Policy Framework and the Ag Summit, the AESA Council decided now is the time to begin introducing the concept of who is paying for, or rewarding stewardship at their annual conference held in early March in Red Deer. “This conference is just the beginning, it will take several years to move from all kinds of incentives to something that has value and will be paid for by society.”

Keynote speaker Dr. Andre Plourde, Centre for Applied Business Research in Energy and the Environment at the University of Alberta, laid the framework for the two-day conference by introducing the concept of Stewardship Incentives and Insights From Economics. He provided an overview of the current global situation, and included some examples from various countries on types of incentives and results. As he noted, this requires a significant investment to truly make long-term changes in environmental sustainability, otherwise you end up with a ‘greening of the edges’, rather than widespread adoption. Plourde also explained success means programs must be as self-financed as possible, not purely another handout.

Nathalie Chalifour, representing the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, brought the national perspective to the conference, followed by what is happening in Alberta, presented by Karen Haugen-Kozyra with AAFRD. “We moved from this sense of what is happening at the international and national level to actual practices on the ground,” says Kolk. Ian Wishart of Keystone Agricultural Producers in Manitoba was invited to provide an overview of their alternative land use services program. “We also invited Kirby Brown of the Texas Wildlife Association to offer a completely different way of approaching conservation using the free market.” Wilf Pelletier explained the concept of eco-gifting and the tax benefits and implications. A panel discussion closed the first day of the conference, focusing on possibilities for environmental goods and services that may arise from Canada’s Agricultural Carbon Sink Policy.

The second day of the conference focused on regional and local perspectives. Barry Cudmore of the Prince Edward Island Food Trust explained their branded approach to marketing products from sustainable agriculture systems. They are striving to reconnect agriculture with consumers through values-based branding and premium markets, at the same time as addressing sustainability and building equity. Keith Crowder of the Southern Alberta Land Trust (SALTS) explained their community-based approach to conservation.

“We closed the conference with a municipal panel discussion addressing various local initiatives,” says Kolk. Marilyn Flock of the County of Barrhead and Tim Dietzler of the MD of Rocky View explained tax incentive programs and environmental goods and services in their municipalities. Glen Lawrence of Strathcona Council presented a Councilor’s perspective, and Tracy Ryan of the Grand River Conservation Authority presented her group’s story about lessons learned from sharing the cost of clean water.

In closing, Kolk noted that the AESA Council designed the conference to provide participants with a broad perspective of what is happening globally, nationally and locally. They are not endorsing any particular approach, rather presenting a range of potential benefits and financial opportunities that may or may not be applicable to individual situations. “We don’t expect to see a formal workplan arising out of the conference, but we do expect to see a number of people start thinking about the concept and others who may become advocates,” explains Kolk. “From this conference, we hope to begin to influence policy makers, organizations, municipalities and others to start looking at a new framework for EGS.”

For more information, contact:
Roger Bryan at email: roger.bryan@gov.ab.ca

	The contents of this page are no longer available.
	For more information about the content of this document, contact Roger Bryan. This document is maintained by Deb Sutton. This information published to the web on April 22, 2003. Last Reviewed/Revised on April 16, 2007.