National Launch of ALUS Canada, a Weston Family Initiative

On November 4, 2016, The W. Garfield Weston Foundation & ALUS Canada announced a new $5 million investment to support a groundbreaking agricultural/ environmental initiative.

Held on opening day of the 2016 Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, the national press conference was attended by the Weston family and more than 100 special guests from Toronto’s business community, philanthropic foundations, CSR professionals, leaders of ALUS programs from Alberta, Quebec and Ontario, and ALUS farmers and ranchers from across the nation.

The press conference was followed by a private afternoon tea reception at which guests tasted the fruit of ALUS participants’ labours, and learned more about the ALUS program and the exciting New Acre Project.

View our photo album, below.

The W. Garfield Weston Foundation announces $5M grant to launch ALUS Canada, A Weston Family Initiative. From L to R: Tamara Rebanks (Chair of the Conservation Committee, The W. Garfield Weston Foundation), Mrs. Camilla Dalglish (Director, The W. Garfield Weston Foundation), Mr. W. Galen Weston (Chairman, The W. Garfield Weston Foundation), Bryan Gilvesy (CEO, ALUS Canada), Mrs. Nancy Baron (Director, The W. Garfield Weston Foundation), Dr. Andrew MacDougall (winner of the Weston Family Ecosystem Innovation Award), Gerry Taillieu (winner of the ALUS Canada Producer Innovation Award), Andrew McKee (President and Chairman of the Board of The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair).

PRESS RELEASE

TORONTO, November 4, 2016 – The W. Garfield Weston Foundation and ALUS Canada proudly launched a significant new conservation effort now known as ALUS Canada, a Weston Family Initiative, today at The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto.

The launch marks a generous $5 million investment from The W. Garfield Weston Foundation to help support ALUS Canada’s expansion across the country, along with its New Acre™ Project, which will offer a distinct and exclusive opportunity for North Americans to invest in projects that help drive positive environmental change.

A recognized leader in sustainability, ALUS Canada is a national program dedicated to supporting farmers and ranchers who produce clean air, clean water, pollinator habitat and other ecosystem services to help service communities across Canada. ALUS Canada offers a unique method for improving the environment, allowing farmers and ranchers to steward their land in a way that benefits all Canadians.

“We are delighted to announce today that The W. Garfield Weston Foundation will make a $5 million grant to ALUS Canada, an organization we have long supported,” said Tamara Rebanks, Chair of the Foundation’s Conservation Committee, at the November 4 press conference. “We believe strongly in the ALUS model, which delivers tens of thousands of acres of natural habitats by engaging Canadian farm communities.”

With 25,000 fairgoers, agricultural competitors and their farm animals providing an energetic backdrop, ALUS Canada’s CEO, Bryan Gilvesy, expressed how thrilled he was to partner with The W. Garfield Weston Foundation to help transform the Canadian landscape.

“As a Weston Initiative, ALUS Canada has been able to expand very rapidly,” he said. “We launched in Quebec this summer, bringing our program to six provinces, with more than 18,000 acres devoted to producing ecosystem services. We plan to open in Nova Scotia and in several more communities throughout Ontario and Alberta, with the aim of reaching 25,000 acres by the end of 2017.”

What’s more, says Gilvesy, ALUS’ launch of the New Acre™ Project will allow individuals and organizations to contribute to the ALUS program and obtain quantifiable environmental outcomes in return.

“It’s the first of its kind in North America,” said Gilvesy. “The New Acre™ Project will empower ordinary Canadians to make the difference they want to see in the world. If you want to have cleaner air, cleaner water and more biodiversity, you can make that happen by sponsoring New Acres.” The project will roll out over the coming months.

Guest speakers included Andrew McKee, President and Chairman of the Board of The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, who noted that The Royal and ALUS share a common passion for agriculture.

“With the support of the Weston family, we expect ALUS will play an invaluable role in ensuring that the wildlife and natural spaces so important to agriculture will be preserved, to the benefit of all,” said McKee.

In celebration of the launch, two special awards were presented to honour leaders from the ALUS program with a $10,000 prize.

Camilla Dalglish, Director of The W. Garfield Weston Foundation, presented the Weston Family Ecosystem Innovation Award to Dr. Andrew MacDougall, a Professor at the University of Guelph, in recognition of his innovative research work in pollinators and biodiversity, using as his laboratory vast swaths of tallgrass prairie, established by ALUS Norfolk in southwestern Ontario.

A second honour went to Gerry Taillieu, the manager of a 14,000-acre ranch west of Edmonton, Alberta. Taillieu was presented with the ALUS Canada Producer Innovation Award for his outstanding commitment to land stewardship producing ecological services through the ALUS program.

“I’m humbled and honoured to be recognized with this award,” said Taillieu, an ALUS Parkland participant and committee member, “but I can tell you that I’m not unique. I believe that the desire to look after your own land is almost universal. ALUS helps you take that concern and put it into action.”

The W. Garfield Weston Foundation is a private Canadian family foundation established in the 1950s by Willard Garfield Weston, his wife Reta and their children. Today the Foundation directs the majority of its funds to projects in the fields of land conservation, education, and scientific research in Canada’s North. The Foundation also provides funds to further Canada’s research in neuroscience.

ALUS Canada is a national program that funds farmers and ranchers producing cleaner air, cleaner water, pollinator habitat and other ecosystem services in their communities. As a recent Clean50 and Alberta Emerald award winner – and ranked among the exclusive Clean16 – ALUS Canada is a leader in sustainability and is dedicated to conserving our environment, one acre at a time.

Photos by Laura Berman, Greenfuse Photography