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Marginal Areas Program - Alberta
Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) - Alberta
Photo: Ducks Unlimited Canada
Program Summary
Ducks Unlimited Canada's Marginal Areas Program in Alberta offers landowners with marginal areas in their cultivated fields (hard to access or poorly producing areas) payments to seed these areas to perennial forages in exchange for a 10-year agreement to maintain them. Producers receive a pollinator-friendly seed pack, and - once establishment has been confirmed - a per-acre payment.
Program characteristics
Province
Alberta
Natural Features
Wildlife Habitat, Native Grasses
Agriculture Type
Cropland
Program Scope
Provincial
Conservation Approach
Restoration, Beneficial Practices
Incentive Type
Payment for Practices / Conservation / Credits, Cost-sharing / Discounts, Technical Advice
Delivery Agent Type
NGO
Commitment Type
Land Conservation / Protection, Management Agreement, Restoration / Re-seeding / Conversion
Commitment Term
Short Term (1 to 10 years)
Program web site
Conservation Goals
DUC is delivering this program to increase perennial cover on the landscape that benefits biodiversity, particularly beneficial insects and wildlife, including waterfowl. Environmental benefits also include carbon sequestration and improving soil and water quality.
Eligible Lands
This program focuses on cultivated lands where the producer:
Is realizing a negative ROI,
Has access limits due to equipment size,
Wants to establish clubroot management areas, and/or
Wants to establish habitat for pollinators and other beneficial insects, and/or sequester carbon.
Eligible fields must fall with DUC's provincial Target Areas (see links below)
Additional Details
There are no restrictions on use. Program participants can graze, hay, mow, or leave idle
Producers retain management decisions for and outside of identified program parcels
Farmers can source seed through the retail of choice.
DUC provides establishment advice to program participants.
The pollinator-friendly seed pack is sourced from a reputable seed company on the prairies and includes a mixture of short- and long-lived perennial species that improve the value of the stand for pollinators specifically.
Commitment
The producer is responsible for buying the forage seed mixture, and establishing and maintaining the forage stand.
Producers sign a ten-year agreement, with a pro-rated buyout option.
Incentive
DUC Alberta provides an incentive of $150/acre on eligible land and supplies a bonus pollinator-friendly seed pack. The per-acre incentive will be paid after establishment is confirmed.
Contact Information
Alberta landowners wanting more information can fill in the 'contact us' form at https://ag.ducks.ca/program/marginal-areas-ab or call Graydon Garner at 403-325-3117.
Important to Know
Field(s) must fall within DUC Target Areas to qualify (Target Area map is available at the link below)
Grazing, haying and mowing are permitted.
Ducks Unlimited Canada also provides expert advice and a pollinator pack to enhance the program participant's seed mix.
This program is provided with the support of Pheasants Forever Canada and the North American Waterfowl Conservation Act.
Additional information is available in DUC Alberta's fact sheet https://ag.ducks.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/AB-MAP-PF.NAWMP_04.2023.pdf
For a full list of DUC's programs in Alberta, see https://www.ducks.ca/places/alberta