You might not expect livestock producers and conservationists to make natural allies.
But consider: lands used to raise cattle represent only one-third of the total agricultural land in Canada. They provide, however, two-thirds of the wildlife habitat found on Canadian agricultural lands. And supporting the beef industry may be counterintuitive to environmentalists, but it is in fact important to the cause. This article from Ian Cook for Birds Canada, a non-profit advocacy organization, lays out the case:
“Canadian native prairie grasslands are vital carbon landscapes with exceptional carbon storage value, storing up to 180 tonnes of carbon per hectare. Grasslands sequester at least as much carbon as forests do, and grasslands may in fact be the more reliable carbon sinks, as most of their carbon is stored underground and not lost during fire events. Keeping grasslands intact is therefore important for achieving our greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.”
Besides their contributions to carbon capture, the Canadian prairies are vital landscape habitats for biodiversity, and especially for grassland birds. And crucial to the survival of these species are grazing livestock. The agricultural lands where they live and pastures where they feed are necessary for the maintenance of the prairie ecosystem and sustain what remains of these declining bird populations. Cook outlines the symbiotic relationship between Alberta’s livestock and their aviary neighbours:
“Grazing livestock maintain the variety of vegetation heights that grassland birds need, enhance the diversity of plants, and even improve carbon sequestration. The vast majority of the remaining grasslands in Canada are owned by cattle and livestock producers. In essence, this makes livestock producers the guardians of one of the world’s most endangered ecosystems, the prairie grasslands, and integral to the survival of our grassland birds.”
But cattle producers are becoming fewer and fewer on the prairies as market pressures and perverse regulatory incentives compel the conversion of grasslands to annual crop production. Conservation organizations and livestock producers on the prairies need to be allies, Cook concludes, if we are to avoid losing two staples of Canada’s West: our cattle industry and the grasslands they sustain.
Read his full article here: https://www.birdscanada.org/livestock-producers-are-powerful-allies-for-grassland-birds/
