The Canadian Forage and Grassland Association (CFGA) is working with Nature United on a three-year research project aimed at understanding trends in the condition and extent of Canadian grasslands. The data will inform strategies to help mitigate climate change and biodiversity loss.
Funded by Environment and Climate Change Canada’s (ECCC) Nature Smart Climate Solutions Fund, Tomorrow’s Prairies: Baselines and Projections for Grasslands Change in Canada is
- Compiling and comparing existing datasets that map native and tame grasslands
- Characterizing baseline conditions for native and tame grasslands, including carbon and biodiversity
- Identifying socio-economic drivers of conversion
- Modeling scenarios of change to 2050 for grasslands in the Canadian Prairies
The project builds on the CFGA’s previous work on inventories and biodiversity through projects such as the Canada Grassland Protocol, the Habitat Biodiversity Assessment Tool (HBAT) and the National Grassland Inventory.
Progress to date includes the assembly of a full research team of 39 experts and development of a research approach for the research’s five themes: grasslands classification, biodiversity, ecosystem carbon, socio-economic drivers and landscape modelling. The research team has developed draft metrics for characterizing biodiversity and carbon, as well as an initial approach to landscape modelling and scenario development that is based on socio-economic drivers.
Tomorrow’s Prairies builds on a growing body of work that highlights the ecological and economic value of Canada’s grasslands. Nature United’s article, Land Ethic for Canada’s Farmlands, underscores the role of farmers and ranchers as stewards of biodiversity and carbon storage – an ethos that aligns closely with the CFGA’s approach. Complementing this, Unearthing Value: How nature can play a critical role in pro-growth agendas — research led by RBC with support from Nature United — calls for better recognition and financing of nature-based solutions, including grassland conservation, in Canada’s climate strategy. Together, these reports reinforce the urgency and opportunity behind the CFGA’s work to map, protect and celebrate Canada’s prairie ecosystems.
Related
Land Ethic for Canada’s Farmlands – A conversation with Nature United’s director of agricultural strategy about how agricultural landscapes can support biodiversity and climate resilience.
Unearthing Value: How nature can play a critical role in pro-growth agendas – A call to integrate nature-based solutions, including grasslands, into Canada’s climate accounting.
Stemming the Loss of Grasslands in Canada – Co-authored by Birds Canada and the Central Grassland Roadmap, this report outlines policy pathways to protect Canada’s remaining grasslands.
CFGA Contribution
The CFGA’s role and contribution to this multi-partner project is focused on continuing previous work that has been integrated into the Tomorrow’s Prairies project. CFGA-affiliated subject matter experts Heather Peat Hamm and John Pattison-Williams are supporting biodiversity and socio-economic research and outcome components alongside other collaborators. Dr. Nasem Badreldin is leading a technical team that includes Heather Peat Hamm and Marie-Ange Fournier-Beck, which is expanding satellite imagery analysis, conducting additional ground-truthing and updating the National Grassland Inventory tool. Separately, Don Faber-Langendoen is guiding the development of a Canadian grassland classification cross-walk and map, which are key components for the classification system project aspect. In addition, CFGA’s communications and leadership team continues to engage with national and regional grassland and conservation organizations to foster collaboration and dialogue around advancing grassland stewardship. This engagement is closely aligned with the Nature Smart Climate Solution Fund-supported Grassland Learning and Knowledge Hub, which is a broad-spectrum grasslands project that examines grasslands knowledge and capacity for co-benefits for biodiversity and human well-being.
Project Launch
The CFGA was pleased to participate in a webinar, Tomorrow’s Prairies: Baselines and projections for grasslands change in Canada, that discussed the launch of the Tomorrow’s Prairies project in late November. A recording of the webinar is available here.
Questions?
Contact Ronnie Drever, senior conservation scientist at Nature United at [email protected].
“We are excited to partner with Nature United to drop in a program and policy exploration lens to the work we’ve done and really look at how these tools can be used and/or evolved to best service the ag industry as a whole. We’re excited to see how this work can help us tell the tale of the valuable contributions farmers and ranchers, dairymen, sheep flock owners and beef growers make to carbon storage and biodiversity protection and enhancement across the country. This partnership creates space for practitioners and policy leaders to co-design solutions that tackle the underlying drivers of change, ensuring that efforts to protect and enhance grassland ecosystems are not only effective, but enduring.”
– Cedric MacLeod, CFGA Executive Director