Let me tell you about the birds and the bees:  Hosted by Bryan Gilvesy, ALUS Chair, this video takes you on a tour of Norfolk ALUS's demonstration farms.


What's New:

Lindsay Bennett has joined the Alternative Land Use Services (ALUS) Program as their new Project Coordinator. Lindsay hails from Newmarket, Ontario and has been employed with the Ontario Forestry Association, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority – where she developed a wide range of experience. Her role as a freelance environmental consultant provided her extensive landowner consultation experience as she worked with landowners to restore prairie habitat in the Lake Simcoe watershed.

Mark MacNeil has joined the Alternative Land Use Services Program as their new Business Development and Research Coordinator. Originally from the east coast, Mark has just completed his Masters in Environmental Studies (York University) – where he focused on GIS modeling of land use and farm management along with valuing of ecosystem services for different agricultural systems.

As you may have heard, the ALUS Pilot has entered the next phase of development towards establishing a working model. 

I would personally like to thank Kristen Thompson for her efforts and dedication as the ALUS Coordinator for the ALUS Pilot and her continued assistance during this transition while balancing her new job with the Nature Conservancy of Canada.

The humble beginnings in March 2002 lead to the successful implementation of the Norfolk ALUS Pilot in September, 2007. It was the determination of the partners, including the Norfolk Federation of Agriculture and the Norfolk Land Stewardship Council, supported by the Norfolk agricultural community and those representatives that have served and continue to serve on the ALUS Partnership Advisory Committee which brought about this initiative to Norfolk’s doorstep.

This determination and networking over these 5 years secured 21 diverse partners with funding of over $1.3 million dollars which fueled the Norfolk ALUS Pilot over the past 3 years.

The work put forth by Katie Nolan, the initial coordinator, and succesive coordinators Eric Cleland and Kristen Thompson, demonstrated to players across Canada that the agricultural community has the capacity to deliver much more than agricultural products – those goods and services which society relies so heavily upon – clean air, clean and abundant water, diversity of landscape, habitat and conservation of species. This model demonstrated that society is willing to fund ecological goods and service payments so that the agricultural community can further their efforts to supply these needed components for a healthy environment for all.

Working with the ALUS PAC, Bryan Gilvesy, Dave Reid and Kristen Thompson were successful in moving this initiative from the pilot phase to the development phase securing $1.5 million dollars from The W. Garfield Weston Foundation. With these dollars a structure will be developed to sustainably move forward with this initiative – serving as a model for communities across Canada.

Will ALUS work? We need only to look towards PEI which has implemented ALUS in an effort to protect their precious freshwater resource while balancing the needs of their potato farmers.

In comparison to the PEI ALUS program, the uniqueness of the Norfolk ALUS initiative is its’ efforts to seek stable funding from the private sector rather than solely from government coffers. Partnering with the private sector – Norfolk ALUS – now has the resources to document the business side of the ALUS model. Such will be supported by on the ground science and research which is tied to an economic model – demonstrating to society and potential funders the value in supporting the agricultural community as a producer of ecological goods and services.

ALUS YouTube Video Series:  Let Me Tell You About  the Birds and the Bees...

The Norfolk ALUS Team is proud to bring to you the first instalment of a three video YouTube series on the Norfolk ALUS Pilot Project, our participants, community partners, and projects. The second and third videos in the series are in the works and will be released in the near future. You can view the channel now at: http://www.youtube.com/user/NorfolkALUS?feature=mhum and make sure you watch it in HD by clicking on the 360p in the bottom right hand corner of the frame, and changing it to 720p.

ALUS in Alberta: County of Vermilion River - Employment Opportunity
The program in Alberta started in 2010, where there are now 11 producers with more than 1000 acres under improvement. Then intention is to see ALUS adopted in other countries and ultimately across the province of Alberta. It is this growth that has necessitated the hiring of a full time coordinator: http://www.lloydcfdc.ca/documents/CVRCoordinator.pdf. Pioneering farmers and community leaders in the County of Vermilion River, Alberta explore the value of nature's benefits. To learn more about ALUS in Alberta  visit: http://www.deltawaterfowl.org/alus/news/110730-Alberta.php.

Questions and comments are always welcome and please feel free to share the video!