Reports/Rapports : A performance-based approach to agri-environmental policy in Canada

Source: LEARN, University of Alberta.
"This study evaluated: 1) the social context of performance-based policy instruments for water quality implemented elsewhere; 2) the perceptions of agricultural property rights and responsibilities related to water quality from the perspectives of agricultural producers, rural residents and urban residents in southern Alberta, Canada; and 3) the feasibility of implementing a performance-based approach to agri-environmental policy within the study area."

"The environmental effects of agriculture are becoming more apparent to the public. As societal values change over time, there will likely be a corresponding shift in agri-environmental policy. Performance-based agri-environmental policy has been identified as a mechanism to provide payments to agricultural producers for the production of ecosystem goods and services (EG&S). This mechanism bases payments on environmental outcomes (i.e., EG&S), rather than inputs or adoption of specific practices. The payment structure assumes that agricultural producers can ‘rent’ EG&S to the public and that the public are willing to pay for these benefits and is based on a perception that agricultural landowners hold strong property rights to the land."

Read full report. A performance-based approach to agri-environmental policy in Canada: Development and comparative assessment. Julia Baird, Kenneth Belcher and Michael S. Quinn. School of Environment and Sustainability, University of Saskatchewan.

WWW: www.ales.ualberta.ca/rees/learnnetwork/