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Myth Or Reality?

1. Individual efforts are insufficient to effectively restore, preserve or protect our natural heritage._______

2. Landowners do not have the resources, knowledge or skills to protect our natural heritage._________

3. Canada’s parks and protected areas are too small, isolated and fragmented to support the full range of biological functions needed to sustain our natural heritage.________

4. Canada’s and Ontario’s Species at Risk laws have recently been strengthened so that now wildlife will not face extinction.______

5. Maintaining natural areas on farms actually improves productivity.______

6. Wetlands are wasted land that could be engineered to be more productive as pasture, cropland and sites for development._______

7. The farther buildings are from water bodies, the less likely that contamination will reach the water from septic systems._______

8. Lawn grass is an excellent plant for absorbing contamination from septic systems.______

9. People have a lower standard of living in countries where the impact of humans on the land has been the greatest._______

10. There are programs in place to pay landowners for the ecological services of returning land to its natural state.________

11. Selective harvesting can improve the biodiversity of woodlands.

12. Farmers can recover up to 100% of their costs for providing protected habitat for identified species at risk.

 

Answers:
1. Myth. When many individuals make small changes, big things begin to happen. For example, on Charleston Lake in Leeds County, when people reduced their use of phosphate products, the water quality of the lake measurably improved. Seemingly small actions, made by many people, produce big changes. In the A2A area it is estimated that 60% of the land is privately owned, and almost 100% near the St. Lawrence River.

2. Myth.  There is a wealth of information available from a wide variety of organizations to assist landowners. Some will even come to your land to evaluate your situation.  Workshops are held regularly.  A2A will soon be sending out notices on these by e-mail on our A2A2U Calendar.

3. Reality. Only with the participation of private landowners can the natural heritage of the A2A area be sustained through connecting wildlife habitat.

4. Myth.  Most environment agencies complain that species at risk programs are underfunded and that existing programs are inadequate.  Consider the list of assessments done by COSEWIC (Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada): over 440 species have been identified in Canada as in danger of extinction, and the list is growing.  Legislation doesn’t change conditions on the ground.  Concerned people do. The number one threat to species at risk is loss of habitat. 

5. Reality.  Farms that provide habitat for wildlife have fewer pests, not more.  Here’s why:  When nature is in balance, predators eliminate many of the animals that prey on farm crops.  Songbirds eat insect pests.  Bees and other pollinators increase yields. Maintaining hedge rows decreases erosion of soil.  It’s indisputable that some predators go after young or weakened livestock.  That will always be the case, and farmers will always need to deal with them. But maintaining a balance of natural areas with crop and pasture land can, over time, establish balances that are more favourable to farm yields, especially when done in concert with other farmers.  For more information go to Leeds County Stewardship Council.

6. Myth. Wetlands provide valuable environmental benefits such as filtration (purification) of surface water, the recharging of aquifers, the reduction of soil erosion, and rich habitat for a large number of plant, animal and fish species.  The A2A region has valuable water supplies, but they are easily contaminated and do not recharge quickly, because the area is characterized by shallow soils.  To protect both the quality and quantity of water we must avoid damage to wetlands. For more information go to the Ducks Unlimited link, and the Conservation Tree Planting Program and follow links on it to the Cataraqui Region Conservation Authority (CRCA) and the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority (RCVA)

7. Reality.  All septic systems leak, and they cause damage to water bodies by increasing the amounts of phosphates and nitrates that enter the water.  If septic systems and buildings are sited well back from the water, it takes longer for contaminants to get there, and gives more opportunity for plants to take them up.  The rockier and steeper the area near the lake or river, the further septic systems need to be from the water.

8. Myth.  Lawn grass is quite shallow rooted, and provides little uptake of contaminants.  Landowners are advised to leave natural shoreline vegetation in place, not cut down trees (limbing for a better view is fine) and plant native shrubs in the key 10 metres near the water if the shoreline vegetation has previously been removed.

9. Reality.  Where humans have had the greatest impact on the natural environment, the standard of living is lowest, particularly in areas with marginal land.  Usually the limiting factor turns out to be good quality water and healthy soils.  Think of Iraq, which at one time had some of the richest land in the world.  Desertification is the result of overuse of resources and not thinking in terms of the generations to come.

10. Not quite reality yet.  There is a proposal called ALUS (Alternative Land Use Strategy) which would reward farmers for returning some of their land to nature, so that wildlife can flourish, water can be purified and soils can be rebuilt.  For more information see Delta Waterfowl.

11. Reality.  Forests that contain only mature trees do not have the same level of biodiversity as ones with a variety of ages of trees.  Maintaining  a percentage of healthy mature trees as seed trees is essential for creating future generations of young trees.  See the links to the Managed Forest Tax Incentive Program and the Eastern Ontario Model Forest and Forest Certification sites.

12. Reality. Farmers across Ontario may be eligible for SARFIP (the Species at Risk Incentive Program). This special partnership developed with federal and provincial governments, and farm organizations, provides up to 100 per cent of the cost for farmers to establish Best Management Practices from the list of SARFIP eligible projects. Practices deemed to provide the greatest degree of benefit are eligible for the maximum cost share. For more information go to Environmental Farm Plan on this website, and follow the link to the Ontario Soil and Crop Association.

How did you do?

Regardless of how many answers you got right, this website will have links that will teach you more.  We encourage you to explore it, and we hope that you find the answers you need.  Please contact us if you still have questions at a2alink.org/webmaster.