The Ganada-!
Green Plan for Agri

Trust conserves
wiidlife-farm life

Traditionally, farmers and birds don't
see Cyc-to-cye,

From the bird's point of view,
farmers’ fields are a smorgasbord of
grain, berries and vegetables,

From the fasmer’s point of view,
birds are vandals that not only feast
On crops that were supposed to pay
the monthly bills, but flocks contain-
. ing thousands of birds leave behind

soil packed so hard it loses its capaci-
ty to grow food.

° Is there a way to bring wildlife
and farmers together to: share a sensi-
tive ecosystem?, ;

_ The answer is “maybe”.

With the help of The Canada-BC
Green Plan for Agriculture, conserva-

" tionists, farmers and scientists are work-
ing together to preserve one of Canada’s
most important bird habitats, the delta at
the mouth of the Fraser River.

Working from a Small office in
Ladner, the Delta Farmland and
Wildlife Trust is providing a habitat

_ for both migrant and resident water-" |”
fowl and birds, such as eagles; that
make their home in Delta. .
“What makes the project unusual '
in today’ 's world is the fact that the
trust is a co-operative effort between

ritisn

conservationists and farmers.

The basic answer to solving the
eternil conflict between farmers and
birds appears to be a simple one .. gris,

Grass, or more specifically,
“cover crops,” and “grassland set
asides” provide birds with a habitat
and place tu feed. They also provide a
home for voles, mice-like creatures
that are food for birds of prey such as
eagles and owls,

From a farmer's point of view,
cover crops and grasslands also put
nutrients and organi¢ matter back into
fields that have been used to grow
intensively-cultivated crops, such as
vegetables. They also reduce soil
compaction problems which prevent
moisture from seeping into the soil
and, instead, cause it to form ponds
on the surface, which make seceding
difficult in the spring.

But, the grass solution also curries

- with it an economic problem. Even

though both farmers and birds benefit
from strategically placed grasslands,

. land taken out of production signifi-
cantly reduces farmers* income.

Enter the Green Plan, financially
helping farmers who help wildlife
that depend on these grasslands for ~
their very existence.

- Ona tour of the delta Brian
Rogers, trust President, points to
drainage ditches that have been

ridging the urban-rural gap

Herb Barbolet of FarmFol/CiyFolk.

“Society has disconnected itself

.. from its source of food” says Herb
Barbolet of the Vancouver-based -
FarmFolk/CityFolk Society. And,

, he’s working 10 ‘reconnect them.

-The folks ‘at FarmFolk/CityFolk

are concerned that many kids and

* adults have no idea what went into
_ thej on of milk, tub of margarine
.or ‘bas ket of vegetables.

Whenever a consumer reaches
over fresh B.C.-grown vegetables to
pick a product from beyond our bor-
dets, they threaten the existence of
local food growers.

~ Farm Fotk/City Folk is all about
changing attitudes, I's also about

Turning wasie -
into riches

The best examplesof “Reduce: Reuse
and Recycle” are those that take envi-
ronmentally harmful waste and turn it
into a resource that improves the
environment. °

Kevin Chipperfield’s Canada-BC
Green Plan for Agriculture praject in
~ Abbotsford is an example of the Reduce.
Reuse and Recycle imperative at its best.

. Agriculture and

‘Agri-Food Canada"

exchanging information.

"- With the financial assistance of
the Canada-B.C. Green Plan for
Agriculture, FarmFolk/CityFolk has
_ been able to successfully hitch its farm
driveway to the information highway.
And, they welcome anyone with a
computer, a modem and an interest in
foodmaking to travel down it.

Concerned about good nutrition?

Wondering where to find fresh straw-
berries? Confused about a farm
issue? Dial up the FannFolk/City Folk
bulletin board and you'll soon be
travelling down the information
highway with Donald Gislason as

. your guide,

After.a year of making linkages
between urban families and farm
families, Barbolet says the society is
now thinking of spinning off a sec-
ond group to be called
“FarmKids/City Kids”.

"Class materials for this project
will be first developed for youngsters
primarily in grades 4 to 6, but mem-
bership will be open for all grades.
And. if everything works out, it will
be their gateway to the other side of
the city lisnits.

For more information phone
(604) 730-0450,

tu this initiative, a by-productof  *
the poultry industry. poultry litter, is
being put to use on farmland in South
Delta to improve both the fertility and
quality of the soil.

Poultry litter has a high nitrogen
content and contains large amounts of
wood chips and sawdust that are used as
bedding for birds in modern poultry
operations, The combination is a hutri-
tious and rich soil additive.

The soils of Richmond-South
Delta, while among the most productive
in the country, have very lidle organic

Agriculture et - .
Agro- alimentaire Canada

cul

lumii
ture

enhanced for wildlife using Green Phin
money, itreas Where sail salinity is
being reduced, trial plots where vari-
ous grasses and legumes are being
tested to find the best ones for the area,
and even an abandoned building where
a Barn Owl is nesting sear a field of
grass where iLean catch its dinner,

Justas importantly, and maybe
more importantly in the long run, says
Rogers. “The Delta Farm and Wildlife
Trust provides a forum where stake-
holders in one of North America's
most important waterfowl and food
production ecosystems can join scien-
lists to co-operatively manage a
resource of international importance”.

For more information phone
(604) 940-3392.

Brian Rogers with an “exclosure” ata
wildlife trust test plot in South Delta

Moonscape
to berries

“A moonscape”. -

That's one municipal councillor's
impression of some of the gravel pits
in southwestern Matsqui.

Rehabilitation of gravel pits is
required on the part of the contrac-
tors after gravel extraction. But,
before the current regulations
(municipal and federal) were in
place, some gravel pits had not been *
restored as they should have, leaving
scars that do, in fact, resemble a
moonscape where only scattered
vegetition grows.

Finding ways of reclaiming these
eyesores is one of the tasks of Sylvia
Welke, the project co-ordinator for
the Matsqui/Langley Soil _
Conservation Group funded by the
Canada-BC Green Plan for
Agriculture. She will conduct a pilot ’
projéct in a gravel pit that wasn't
reclaimed to satisfactory standards.

Although this particular gravel
pit is not within the Agricultural
Land Reserve (ALR), with the reha-
bilitation efforts of Welke it will
probably be added to the reserve. To
help in this effort. by using local
resources, Welke will use the
municipal pit for trials of various

content. Wood chips contained in poul-
try liter add that organic matter, The
nitrogen adds rich nutrients that are par-
ticularly valuable in growing green.
leafy vegetables and corn.

On the other side of the coin, the
nitrogen content of this poultry by-
product presents an environmental
concern in the Abbotsford area.
During rainy periods nitrogen seeps
into the gravel soils and may eventual-
ly find its way into the Abbotsford

‘CANADA'S GREEN PLAN:

ure

“Canada’s future as a food producing nation depends entirely upon the
conservation of our most important resources: our soil, air and water, If
we do not practice sustainable agriculture we will fail - and be a lesser
nation for it.” - Hon, Ralph Goodale, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-

Food Canada,

The Canada-British Columbia Green Plan for Agriculture is a $12
inillion program supported by Agriculture and Agri-food Canada and the
British Columbia Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. To date
this program has supported about 150 projects. Cominitted to encourag-
ing environmental sustainability in British Columbia's agri-food sector,
the Green Plan program supports initiatives aimed at:

achieving sustainable agri-food systems.
minimizing air, soil and water degradation and pollution.
managing agrifood resources for environmental sustainability and

long term economic benefit.

securing long-term productivity through a sound land and water

resource base.

maintaining the economic and rural fabric of rural
communities through sound resource stewardship.

“Farmers are our foodmakers. If, through ignorance, we fail to under-
stand the importance of what they do, and do not protect our valuable Jand
and water resources, we will lose that abundance, And, we will find our-
selves relying on others for the very food that sustains us,” - Hon, David
Zirnhelt, British Columbia Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

‘

Ron Berwvand,
Resource Management Branch,

B.C. Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
33832 South Fraser Way,
Abbotsford, B.C.

_ (For more
information on the
Green Plan for
Agriculture call:

V2S 2C5. °

Phone: (604)! 852-5363 or fax (604) 853- 4383,

organic amendments (such as com-
‘posts and manures) and green ;
manures to rehabilitate the soil as
fast and cost-effectively as possible.
But, before she tries to enrich the
fertility of the soil, the site has to be
subsoiled, harrowed, stone-picked
and graded. Then Welke will likely
have to bring in topsoil from nearby
development sites to provide the
required topsoil depth. :

Once the soil has been enriched
and tumed into a fertile seedbed it will
be planted to a cron which she will
monitor for g growth and yield. Since
the gravel pit is close to raspberry
farms, Welke expects that the restored
site will be leased to a berry farmer.

For more information phone
(604) 853-2281 Ext. 321.

Sybia Welke at the site of her gravel pit
reclamation project,

Aquifer, an important source of
well water.

“What we are doing is taking some-
thing that is considered a waste product
in one area and turning it into a valuable
resource in another,” he says.

He's hoping that an ever increasing
number of food growers in South Delta
will recognize the value of this natural
fertitizer and will be willing to pay the
costs involved in having it delivered to
their farms.

For more information phone
(604) 850-1814.

Province of

British Columbia

Get ee
visit a farm:

There’s either a huge amount of Oy
trust, ora huge amount of misurider-
standing between urban and rural
Canadians. — . :

Each day we sit down to ‘thre
meals of protein, vegetables, fruit
and dairy products, seldom questi
ing the quality of that food or, in
some cases, fully understanding -
where it came from or how it got
our corner “supermarket, ao

Jean Gourley and Daphne ~
Savage are about to change all tha’
They want people to know wher
their food comes from and. the bes
way, they think, is to show’ people
first hand,

In July of this: year, with th
help of The Canada-BC Green Pla
for Agriculture and ‘a substantial -
investment of their own money, the’
sel up Specialty Agricultural Tour:
out of their farm homes in Delta.

“What we offer to people. is.an
alternative to the usual tours of -
Stanley Park’ or Granville Island,” :

- says Mrs. Savage. i

The tours, which cost ‘between.
$29 and $55, depending on the
number and type of farms being vis-
ited, include a farm style lunch of
B.C. products and an honoraridm |”
that is paid to farmers who host, the.
tour groups. :

But, the motive ation behind: :
Spe cialty Agricultural Tours is more-
serious than that of simply provid-

sing pleasant outings for city people -
and visiting business’ people. '

Gourley and Savage are inter-
ested in building bridges, bridges
between furmers and the urban com--.
munity. They realize that farmers :
need the understanding of city peo-.
ple if they hope to survive.” :

. For-more information phone -

(604) 946-3929.

a f-
Ministry of.”
Agriculture,”
‘Fisheries and Food