Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Members of Parliament, my name is Paul Thoroughgood. I'm the national manager of agricultural sustainability. With me is [Technical difficulty—Editor.
On behalf of the 100,000 supporters that we have across the country, we'd like to thank you for the opportunity to participate in this important study.
As you're aware, we have worked in partnership with various sectors across the country, including agriculture, to improve the ecological health of Canada's working landscapes since our founding more than eight decades ago. We believe that despite market pressures and global challenges there are solutions at hand that will enable us to meet our economic, social and environmental goals.
Furthermore, we believe that Canadian agriculture is and must continue to be a significant solution provider to these challenges.
One example I'll cite is how Canadian farmers, scientists and extension agents showed the world how to make wind erosion of our soils a part of the past through the innovation of no-till farming and, as mentioned earlier, beef and dairy sectors in Canada both produce their products with less than half the global average greenhouse gas footprint.
One of the things we'd like to discuss is that areas under agricultural production, like pastures, hayfields and crops, are recognized as assets on the farm, and they generate economic livelihood for landowners. In comparison, remnant habitats, like wetlands and grasslands, are often viewed as unproductive and even as liabilities, which makes them ripe for removal. This leads directly to the loss of these habitats right across our country and to losing their ability to remove carbon and store it.
The power of remnant habitats to help fulfill Canada's environmental goals is significantly greater than their area. For example, based on Ducks Unlimited Canada research, as well as research conducted by our partners, maintaining four acres of wetlands stores as much carbon as would be sequestered by no-tilling an entire quarter section of cropland on the Canadian prairies for 25 years.
The environmental benefits generated by sustainable agriculture also go well beyond carbon sequestration. Ducks Unlimited Canada submits that biodiversity enhancement and recovery, water quality improvements and water quantity management are key environmental benefits that also should be recognized. Remnant grasslands and wetlands embedded in cropland, for example, provide critical habitats for many species, as well as providing improved water quantity and quality services.
[Technical difficulty—Editor] to realize its full environmental and economic potential we believe the practical and pragmatic solution is to sustainably intensify production on the landscape while ensuring that no natural areas are brought into production.
Adoption of beneficial management practices like 4R nutrient management and integrated pest management are important parts of this process. We believe that 4R, in combination with retirement of marginal crop areas within fields, could meet or possibly even exceed Canada's goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with fertilizer applications by 30% by 2030.
In summary, for Canadian agriculture to optimize its contribution towards helping Canada meet its climate and biodiversity goals, we offer the following recommendations.
First, Canada should re-incentivize the retirement of economically and environmentally underperforming areas within cropped fields, very similar to Greencover Canada and permanent cover. Similarly, we should incentivize the retirement of smaller areas within cropped fields to remove them from production.
As well, Canada should develop a comprehensive soil health strategy to support the resilience and productivity of our soil resource.
We also should increase investments in technology transfer for higher public good BMPs like 4R nutrient management, integrated pest management and the protection and management of remnant areas.
We should increase investments in geospatial and other scientific data to support the monetization of ecological goods and services provided by good land stewardship. This would include the development of ecological goods and services protocols.
We would recommend accelerating the completion of Canada-wide inventories for things like grasslands and wetlands, which will support sustainable agriculture.
Last, we would suggest the development and adoption of a comprehensive land use strategy by all levels of government and stakeholders to strike a balance between urban expansion, agricultural production and environmental protection.
Thank you, and I look forward to answering your questions.