Advocacy

13(1) Mechanisms that allow producers to financially, or otherwise, benefit from their management decisions that enhance carbon sequestration and storage, wildlife habitat and management, and water purification, are strongly encouraged.

(2) In order for private land conservation to be effective,

• (a) The use of private land conservation tools should be done in a manner that minimizes the negative impact, long-term and short, on the individual signing the agreement, neighbouring beef producers, the beef industry, broader agriculture and rural communities.
• (b) Recognizing that landowners and funders both have their own desired outcomes, access and funding to a suite of tools is needed to accomplish the varied goals. These tools must include, but are not limited to,
  • Annual or short-term payment for ecological goods and services, such as biodiversity indices, carbon, water purification,
  • Transferable development credits,
  • Term agreements and/or easements, and,
  • Perpetual easements.
• (c) The value of any agreement must clearly state the service being sold and must establish a value through market-based metrics that includes long-term implications.
• (d) To prevent government dollars from competing with local landowners, organizations and land trusts should never use government dollars, nor government-leveraged dollars, to purchase freehold, agricultural land.

(3) Private land conservation must adhere to the fundamental principles,

• (a) Landowners have the property right to sell their land, in whole or in part, as they see fit.
• (b) It is a property right for landowners to make stewardship decisions for their land, which may impact the level ecological goods and services. Any requirement to change necessitates compensation.

Approved: September 16, 2024

From Part 2 – Policy and Priorities of ABP’s Policy Manual