Saving local farmland from development and, most importantly, returning it to productive use by seeding the possibilities for a new generation of farmers are key objectives of the Sooke region’s first farmland trust society.
Land trusts traditionally have been used to protect woodlands, wetlands, rare species habitat and other ecologically sensitive areas. Many trusts in North America have also been formed for the express purpose of conserving working farmlands.
The Sooke Region Farmland Trust Society is the area’s first such land trust dedicated to preserving farm acreages. The non-profit’s volunteer board of directors is seeking charitable status prior to launching fundraising campaigns. In the meantime, board members are consulting with other start-up and established B.C. trusts (though Farm Folk/City Folk) to share expertise and develop strategies to save the province's precious farmland and promote food security.
“The society is a vehicle through which we can ensure that farmers can lease arable land in the region at affordable rates and grow food for the benefit of us all,” says ALM Farm's Mary Alice Johnson. She co-founded the trust in the spring of 2013 with Doug Brubaker and InishOge Farm's Mary Coll and Steve Unger after the four had participated in an exciting yet ultimately unsuccessful bid by a cooperative group to establish the Village Farm community ecovillage on the fertile edge of downtown Sooke's farming greenbelt.
Our short, medium and longer-term objectives:
* to acquire, preserve and/or manage farmland in the Sooke region through donation, purchase or lease;
* to arrange leasehold agreement with individuals and/or organizations to farm and enrich trust properties in an environmentally sustainable manner;
* to raise money, acquire funds, accept bequests and other assistance through private donations and government funding programs;
* to advance community awareness, local resilience and participation in food security for the benefit of current and future generations.
Land trusts traditionally have been used to protect woodlands, wetlands, rare species habitat and other ecologically sensitive areas. Many trusts in North America have also been formed for the express purpose of conserving working farmlands.
The Sooke Region Farmland Trust Society is the area’s first such land trust dedicated to preserving farm acreages. The non-profit’s volunteer board of directors is seeking charitable status prior to launching fundraising campaigns. In the meantime, board members are consulting with other start-up and established B.C. trusts (though Farm Folk/City Folk) to share expertise and develop strategies to save the province's precious farmland and promote food security.
“The society is a vehicle through which we can ensure that farmers can lease arable land in the region at affordable rates and grow food for the benefit of us all,” says ALM Farm's Mary Alice Johnson. She co-founded the trust in the spring of 2013 with Doug Brubaker and InishOge Farm's Mary Coll and Steve Unger after the four had participated in an exciting yet ultimately unsuccessful bid by a cooperative group to establish the Village Farm community ecovillage on the fertile edge of downtown Sooke's farming greenbelt.
Our short, medium and longer-term objectives:
* to acquire, preserve and/or manage farmland in the Sooke region through donation, purchase or lease;
* to arrange leasehold agreement with individuals and/or organizations to farm and enrich trust properties in an environmentally sustainable manner;
* to raise money, acquire funds, accept bequests and other assistance through private donations and government funding programs;
* to advance community awareness, local resilience and participation in food security for the benefit of current and future generations.