Farmland Advantage is a research and development program that works with farmers to protect and conserve critical, natural lands, streams and habitats in British Columbia.

• Regional Focused – with a farm-based approach to addressing climate concerns
• Research Led – each project is driven by and informs our research
• Results Orientated – working in BC to effectively protect the natural environment
• Financial Incentives – farmers are compensated to offset costs of improvements

We assist hard-working farmers who look after their land, so the land can continue to work hard for us.

Farmland Advantage assesses the health of targeted ecosystems on BC farmland, identifying areas of high risk or high potential for improved ecosystem health. FLA partners with farmers and other groups in the targeted areas to implement enhancement measures and provide compensation and recognition to farmers.

Farmland Advantage targets high risk and high opportunity areas in BC based on pre-determined selection criteria:

• Funding Priorities – Priorities of funding agencies
• GIS Procedure – Multi-scale GIS procedure to target regions, sub-regions and sites
• Industry Expertise – Industry expertise on the appropriate GIS mapping layers needed to align target areas with program / funder priorities
• Ranking – Ecosystem Service Potential tool to rank farms based on their potential to contribute to ecosystem services
• Other – Other considerations like watershed, winter range, elevation, slope and species at risk

Farmland Advantage will ensure BC farmers actively contribute to, and are compensated for, stewardship actions and regenerative agricultural practices that support ecosystem services. This is accomplished by taking actions that promote cleaner watersheds, healthier wildlife populations and species at risk habitat, and that mitigate the impacts of climate change.

Restoration activities on those sites include:

• Tree & shrub planting
• Riparian protection infrastructure (i.e. fencing or other barriers)
• Weed and/or competitive vegetation management
• Thinning trees or shrubs
• Seeding
• Targeted grazing
• Managed fire

Farmland Advantage is an IAF Program. As such, the vision and objective of the program are directed by IAF.  Funders contribute towards Farmland Advantage, and depending on the giving level, can choose to target their funds towards a specific ecosystem or initiative within the program. The program is supported by a variety of partners, including:

A selection of recent Farmland Advantage projects: