Editors Note: This opinion piece was printed in this Saturday’s Issue of the Winnipeg Free Press and supplied to me by the Manitoba Wildlife Federation.
A conservation disaster is quietly unfolding in rural, agro-Manitoba with the potential to set private-land conservation and reconciliation back many years, all fuelled by the federal government’s current approach to land protection.
In 2020, at the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, participating countries, including Canada, approved a global goal to protect 30 per cent of the planet’s lands and oceans by 2030 to stem the loss of biodiversity (30 by 30). A laudable goal on the surface.
One of the programs launched by the federal government to meet their 30-by-30 goal is the ecological corridors program.
At a recent funding announcement in Winnipeg, federal officials described an ecological corridor project in southwestern Manitoba as “a safe passage for endangered species like the short-eared owl and red-headed woodpecker,” which would “lay the groundwork for ‘a belt of greenspace’ along the Little Saskatchewan River, eventually linking the iconic national park to protected areas and private lands in the province’s west” (Federal government announces $1M for ecological corridor in Manitoba, Nov. 29).
Again, laudable goals, on the surface.
The problem is that the program is aimed at private land, which is currently being actively farmed.
The program is funded and managed by Parks Canada, an institution that is in the park establishment and land protection business, not private agricultural land conservation. The federal documents describing the ecological corridor program are focused on species at risk and talk about the necessity of “regulatory mechanisms” and the need for “compatible activities,” all insinuating that the current land-use needs to change, but with no clear plan, measurables or details regarding how this will actually be achieved. So when Terry Duguid, a federal cabinet minister, spoke of “belts of greenspace” and “linking protected areas,” local landowners naturally wondered and feared what this meant for them and their land.
Between this language and the lack of engagement with the local community, it’s no wonder that landowners are concerned.
A group of agricultural producers from the Oak River area have organized themselves in opposition to the ecological corridor program. They have formed an organization called the Manitoba Land Stewards Inc. and, unsurprisingly, their supporters are growing rapidly.
In developing the ecological corridors program, the federal government rightly conducted extensive engagements with Indigenous communities. You would think they would’ve done the same with agricultural producers, given the program is targeted primarily at private farmland.
You’d be wrong.
Make no mistake, after a century of bad government policy relating to Indigenous communities, all reasonable people would agree it is great to see a concerted effort by government to engage with Indigenous people on land conservation. However, what we are now seeing is a new kind of bad federal policy, focusing almost entirely and exclusively on engaging with Indigenous people only. The federal documentation for ecological corridors speaks to requiring “Indigenous stewardship” as a guiding principle for programming. Remember, we are talking about a project area that is almost entirely private farm land. The program documentation gives lip service to the stewardship provided by the actual landowners themselves, which is at best disrespectful.
The outcome is the creation of more division between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, which is tragic and unnecessary.
Why not simply include all interests in the process?
The Assiniboine West Watershed District is an important local conservation organization that has been doing outstanding community-based conservation work for years. The watershed district applied for and received a $1-million grant from the ecological corridors program.
However, the pushback by landowners against the federal program has now divided the local people in an unprecedented way, so much so that many landowners are vowing not to work with the watershed district, and at least one municipality has pulled out of the watershed district entirely.
LACK OF LEADERSHIP AND CONSULTATION BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
A tragic outcome and entirely avoidable with better leadership and execution by the federal government in the first place.
Taking your ball and going home is rarely a good idea, because the world is truly run by those that show up. So when farmers exit conservation planning tables in protest, such as what is happening in western Manitoba, it isn’t in their best interest, nor is it helpful for conservation interests either because they need to work with private landowners for their conservation programs to succeed.
All conservation interests, as well as the Manitoba government, would do well to take the current situation in Westman seriously and correct their path forward.
Rob Olson is senior science adviser with the Manitoba Wildlife Federation.