Ownership of small acreages, hobby farms and recreational properties is growing in Alberta. More and more, acreage owners are searching for information and support for how best to manage their properties in a sustainable manner.
The Green Acreages program offers publications, workshops and incentives developed especially for acreage, hobby farm and recreational property owners to help them implement stewardship practices that conserve and protect the valuable natural assets, such as air, land, water, wildlife, associated with their properties. Learn more, watch this.
The Primer
This booklet provides an introduction to the basics of owning and managing a rural property on topics such as water and waste management, living with wildlife, weed and pest control and much more. With funding support from TD Friends of the Environment and Alberta Real Estate Foundation, we updated the Primer to include additional resources as well as new content about Resource Development and Extraction and Easements and Rights-of-Way. View the flipbook online or download the PDF. Print copies are also available for municipalities and stewardship groups in our online store.
The Workbook
The more comprehensive Workbook takes stewardship to the next level. Each chapter begins with an overview of an issue and background information, includes relevant legislation, offers examples of beneficial management practices and provides sources of additional information. At the end of each module, handy worksheets help you document and evaluate how you manage your property. Order your copy today for only $35.00 plus GST/shipping.
Workshops
Green Acreages Workshops are informative, educational and interactive. Hosted in partnership with local municipalities, and led by an experienced and knowledgeable facilitator, these workshops offer a practical, hands-on approach to helping people become better stewards of their acreages and recreational properties.
Using the Workbook and its corresponding worksheets as a guide, and using an air photo of individuals’ properties provided by their municipality, by the end of a workshop, each attendee will have learned more about what they can do and the resources available to them, and come away with a Workbook and the start of a stewardship plan for their property. At a workshop, you will learn how to:
- Better manage and improve your property
- Evaluate your acreage
- Map your property assets and plan your activities
- Access funding to help with a stewardship project and the projects that qualify
- And more
Upcoming Workshops
If you have an acreage in any of these host municipalities, plan to attend. For event details and to register click on the links.
- March 23, 2023 hosted by Leduc County and Beaver Hills Biosphere (Looma)
- March 28, 2023 hosted by Northern Sunrise County (St. Isidore)
- March 29, 2023 hosted by County of Grande Prairie (Tee Pee Creek)
- March 30, 2023 hosted by MD of Greenview (Valleyview)
- April 3, 2023 hosted by Rocky View County (virtual, via Zoom)
- April 12, 2023 hosted by Clearwater County (virtual, via Zoom)
Are you a municipality interested in hosting a Green Acreages workshop for your residents? Contact the Program Coordinator today.
Incentives
With funding from Alberta’s Watershed Resiliency and Restoration Program and support from rural municipalities, we’ve expanded the Green Acreages program and are now accepting applications from small acreage, hobby farm and recreational property owners to fund cost-shared, eligible stewardship initiatives on their properties. Through this initiative, eligible projects may be funded 50:50 up to a maximum of $2500 per project on a cost-share basis (i.e., property owners must contribute the same or greater cash or in-kind value to the projects). To be eligible, cost-share projects must incorporate beneficial management practices that will lessen the impacts of flooding and drought incidents.
If you are considering a stewardship project for your acreage, apply today. Connect with the program coordinator, Milena McWatt by email or phone 780–483-1885 extension 222.