Abstract
Agricultural expansion and intensification are major drivers of ecosystem degradation and loss of biodiversity around the world. Countries are relying on protected areas to conserve habitats and prevent species decline, but these are either too few, too small, or too disconnected to capture and protect the needs of species at risk (SAR). Privately owned and managed lands and agricultural producers are increasingly needed to assist with habitat conservation and SAR recovery. Uptake of environmentally beneficial management practices (BMPs) by producers is often hindered by the lack of awareness of the needs of SAR and of the contribution they can make to their habitats, an actual or perceived negative economic and operational impact of the necessary management changes, the fear of losing management control over their land, and mistrust toward public agencies. We present an eight-step model framework that allows agricultural producers to privately determine the potential SAR occurring in a land parcel of interest and to identify and prioritize mutually compatible and outcome-oriented BMPs relevant to these species. In Alberta, Canada, the framework resulted in the development of a confidential self-served online extension tool tailored to a typical farm-level management unit, and to the geographical and ecological context of the operation. We provide a case study using a land parcel from the agricultural region of Alberta to illustrate the model and the associated tool. This novel approach can alleviate producers concerns, promote uptake of BMPs, and foster voluntary stewardship of SAR habitats on privately owned or managed lands.
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Acknowledgements
We wish to thank the following organizations who contributed datasets that were ultimately used in the application of this tool in Alberta, Canada: Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute, Alberta Environment and Parks, BirdLife International, Bumble Bee Watch, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Eastern Irrigation District, Environment and Climate Change Canada, GBIF.org, iNaturalist, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and MULTISAR. We are grateful to the following individuals who participated in the process of ranking species or BMPs: L Burns, G Court, M Curteanu, B Dale, S Davis, BA Downey, BL Downey, P Fargey, D Ghikas, C Kemper, C Neufeld, S Robertson, P Strankman, D Vujnovic, and L Wilkinson. We also acknowledge R McNeil who provided appreciated information and suggestions for BMP development and three anonymous reviewers who provided valuable feedback to the initial version of this article.
Funding
This project was undertaken with the financial support of the Government of Canada through the federal Department of Environment and Climate Change and the Canadian Agriculture Partnership program, and of the Province of Alberta through the Canadian Agriculture Partnership program. Ce projet a été réalisé avec l’appui financier du gouvernement du Canada agissant par l’entremise du ministère fédéral de l’Environnement et du Changement Climatique ainsi que via le Partenariat canadien pour l’agriculture, et du gouvernement de l’Alberta agissant via le Partenariat canadien pour l’agriculture.
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Blouin, F., Wilmshurst, J.F., Harder, J. et al. Prioritizing Beneficial Management Practices for Species at Risk in Agricultural Lands. Environmental Management 68, 937–952 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-021-01525-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-021-01525-3