Launched in January 2022, ALUS Lanark was formed to support agricultural stewardship in Lanark County. In 2024, the ALUS community expanded its territory and became ALUS Mississippi-Rideau.

Located southwest of Ottawa, Lanark County is home to approximately 60,000 people. Throughout the county are agricultural areas, natural lands (forests, lakes and wetlands), and cottage country, with growing towns and rural intensification in the east. Hog, poultry/egg, oilseed, grain and vegetable farming has increased as other sectors have receded in recent years, and the changing landscape of Lanark lends itself to agricultural value-add opportunities in processing, and partnerships opportunities in local food product development and distribution. ALUS Mississippi-Rideau helps the county’s network of farmers who are keen to undertake environmental stewardship projects to adapt to the changing landscape and contribute to the health of this picturesque county.

Lanark County is also home to notable environmental features, including the Rideau River, the Mississippi River, the Canadian Shield and the Great Lakes basin. It also includes Murphy’s Point Provincial Park and Silver Lake Provincial Park. Several at-risk species also inhabit the area, including Blanding’s Turtle and the Grey Rat Snake.

ALUS Mississippi-Rideau supports farmers in the creation of an array of ecosystem projects, including reforestation, windbreaks, riparian buffers, wetland projects, tallgrass prairie, pollinator habitat and more. These projects contribute to the health of the farmers’ privately-owned landscape, while also benefitting the broader environment by providing support for biodiversity; reducing downstream flooding in neighbouring communities and ecosystems; and mitigating the impacts of climate change through carbon sequestration.

Initiated by Climate Network Lanark and Lanark County, ALUS Mississippi-Rideau is administered by the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority and the Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority. The partnership of these organizations with the ALUS model speaks to the importance of the agricultural community to the county. Farmers play a multitude of roles, generating important economic, environmental and cultural outcomes, and ALUS Mississippi-Rideau will help them steward the environment that we all rely on.

Guided by a local Partnership Advisory Committee (PAC), no less than half of which is comprised by local farmers, the ALUS model ensures that projects are determined at the local level to address the community’s environmental and economic priorities.