Conservation Trust Supports Sustainability of Manitoba’s Community Pastures

Rural Manitoba is blessed with 19 hidden jewels of natural habitat. Very few Manitobans have visited these special places. They are undeveloped natural wildlands known as Community Pastures.

Manitoba’s Community Pastures comprise over 330,000 acres of rangeland including grasslands, forests, and wetlands. That is a big area, over 515 sections of land. The primary residents are cattle and wildlife. Community Pastures support about 360 Manitoba cattle producers who bring 41,000 head of livestock to graze the rangelands every season.

The Association of Manitoba Community Pastures (AMCP) administers the Community Pasture Program. It is a not-for-profit producer-led organization. AMCP’s mandate is to enhance and support the livestock industry by providing high quality grazing balanced with sustainable rangeland stewardship.

Thanks to $400,000 in grant funding from the Manitoba Conservation Trust, AMCP recently completed a 2-year project called Advancing Sustainable Range Management Objectives on Manitoba’s Community Pastures.

“AMCP delivered new range management investments at 12 Community Pastures that provide grazing for over 31,000 head of livestock from 250 local producers,” said Rachel Whidden, Project Coordinator, AMCP. “With match support, over 22,400 acres of rangelands were enhanced with new fencing (rotational grazing), new or improved drinking water sources, livestock crossing installations, as well as by addressing brush encroachment and soil erosion issues.”

“Conservation Trust Program grant funding has been a tremendous support to the Association of Manitoba Community Pastures,” Whidden relayed. “The funding is vital for AMCP to implement major environmental stewardship projects throughout pasture rangelands. In fact, most of the project works would never have been possible without support from the Conservation Trust.”

The Conservation Trust, supported by the Province of Manitoba and administered by Manitoba Habitat Conservancy, provides grant funding to support habitat conservation to improve Manitoba’s wildlife populations and general ecosystem health. “The Conservation Trust recognizes that good stewardship of grazing areas can achieve multiple goals, including enhancement of ecological goods and services, biodiversity, and improved wildlife habitat,” said Whidden.

“The AMCP Sustainable Range Management Project also supported range health assessments and avian (bird) surveys,” Whidden said. “It is essential to have baseline data on rangeland health to target programming to improve pastures. Well managed grazing lands produce healthy forage and resilient plants, which are essential for cattle, species-at-risk and wildlife.”

“The presence of animals and birds helps assess the potential of pastureland to support wildlife,” said Whidden. “A wildlife tracking tower was constructed, and at-risk grassland songbirds were banded at one community pasture. Avian surveys were completed at 5 pastures, identifying 90 different species, including 8 grassland species-at-risk birds like the Sprague’s Pipit and Bobolink.