New Acre™ Project Receives Continued Support from TD Bank Group

TD grant helps to add 115 acres of nature-based solutions in communities across Canada for 2023

Each New Acre of projects delivers numerous benefits for communities, including resilience to extreme weather, such as flood, drought and extreme heat. The long-term outcomes of these projects are critical to global efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change, biodiversity loss and other environmental challenges. Financial support for New Acre Project empowers farmers and ranchers working with ALUS to create, enhance, manage and maintain nature-based solutions, including windbreaks, buffer strips and more. These are local solutions to global challenges.

“We are proud to continue our support for ALUS’ New Acre Project to help elevate the quality of the environment through nature-based solutions delivered by Canadian farmers and ranchers,“ says Joshua Cayer, Manager, Philanthropy, Sustainability & Corporate Citizenship, TD Bank Group. “Through the TD Ready Commitment, we are focused on supporting innovative community projects that help create equitable access to green spaces, while also providing invaluable social and economic benefits to communities and the people who live within them.“

By funding New Acre Project, TD is supporting ALUS’ work to build a vibrant environment, preventing nature loss and planting trees and shrubs in rural Canadian communities. To date, TD has funded 665 acres of projects that have planted over 35,000 native trees and nearly 10,000 native shrubs, with more projects being added in 2023. These project acres are contributing to local biodiversity and providing valuable ecosystem services that deliver economic value for communities. 

In 2023, TD has supported 115 acres of naturalization projects in rural communities. Since 2018, TD’s support has contributed to projects in thirteen communities in the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec. ALUS communities in these five provinces work with local farmers and ranchers to develop targeted, local, market-driven solutions to environmental management challenges on working agricultural properties. 

“In its fifth year, the collaboration with TD is as important for New Acre Project now as it was in 2018. Consistent support such as what TD offers means ALUS can continue to grow its stock of projects that sequester carbon, slow erosion and capture and store nutrients on the rural landscape,” says Katherine Balpataky, Senior Director of Corporate Partnerships at ALUS.

ALUS’ New Acre Project is a market-leading offering with an innovative and valuable solution to the climate and biodiversity crises: a network of farmers and ranchers putting environmental projects in the ground. Farmers and ranchers continue to join their local ALUS communities, because the programs empower them as solution providers, giving them the necessary tools and resources to benefit the natural world for their communities and future generations.

About ALUS and New Acre™ Project 

ALUS (originally an acronym for Alternative Land Use Services) is a national charitable organization that provides expertise, resources, and direct financial support to 38 communities across six provinces where more than 1,600 farmers and ranchers establish and steward nature-based solutions on their land. These solutions deliver ecosystem services to help sustain agriculture and fight climate change and biodiversity loss for the benefit of communities and future generations. Projects such as enhanced wetlands, windbreaks, riparian buffer zones, wildlife habitats, adaptive agricultural practices and other impactful environmental solutions produce cleaner air, cleaner water, greater biodiversity, carbon sequestration, erosion control, flood and drought mitigation, pollinator and wildlife habitat, and other ecological services. 

New Acre™ Project, delivered by ALUS, helps purpose-driven corporations invest in nature-based solutions on agricultural land that generate positive environmental, economic and social outcomes in the communities where they operate—one acre at a time. By investing in New Acre Project, corporations can strategically allocate capital and customize their impact. Each New Acre investment delivers tangible, reliable and measurable outcomes by empowering farmers and ranchers to produce ecosystem goods and services, like carbon sequestration, water filtration and enhanced habitat, that increase biodiversity and help build climate resilience.