Eighty percent of Alberta’s wildlife depends on riparian areas, those green zones in and around wetlands, lakes, rivers, streams and creeks, for their survival.
Three to five percent of the province’s landscape is classified as riparian.
Given those statistics, the importance of maintaining the health of land around water bodies becomes evident, said Norine Ambrose, executive director of Cows and Fish, the Alberta riparian habitat management society.
Ambrose said the organization has done more than 2,000 assessments of riparian health in the province and has found that 26 percent are healthy, 50 percent are healthy but at risk and 24 percent are unhealthy.
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“There’s still a lot of room for improvement,” she said during a speech April 10.
“Riparian areas are much more important than their size suggests.”
Cows and Fish works with farmers and ranchers, among other individuals and groups, to improve riparian health through such things as off-site livestock watering and grazing plans.
“One of the challenges we face, and maybe all non-profit conservation organizations would say the same thing, is ongoing resources. We rely on grant funding and its annual,” said Ambrose.
Cows and Fish doesn’t actively recruit farmers or ranchers to undertake riparian health improvement projects. The program is voluntary and people interested in changes must make the first move, Ambrose said.
“Everybody’s reason for making a change will be different.”
Surveys of people who have been involved with Cows and Fish consistently note its practical and knowledgeable approach as a major asset.
They also show that community stewardship groups are more likely to be informed and willing to make changes to improve riparian areas.
The voluntary Cows and Fish stewardship program has been in operation since 1992 and comprises farmers and ranchers.
