The 2021 ALUS Innovation Awards

Nominations for the 2021 Dave Reid Awards are now open.

Marc Bercier

Marc Bercier, recipient of the 2020 Dave Reid Award.

ALUS is pleased to announce that the Dave Reid Awards are accepting nominations for the year 2021.

Do you know an outstanding ALUS participant or PAC member?

Nominate them for the Dave Reid Award, recognizing achievements in conservation, project management, environmental awareness, networking and farm stewardship.

Click Here to Download the Nomination Form

Please fill out the nomination forms and send them in by April 16, 2020. Complete nomination forms must be received by email or postmarked by this deadline in order to be considered.

The Dave Reid Award was created in 2016 to recognize participating ALUS producers who are excellent stewards of the land and who have done innovative work in producing ecosystem services on their land through ALUS. The prize highlights achievements in conservation, project management, environmental awareness, networking and farm stewardship.

The prize, worth $10,000, has previously been presented to Marc Bercier in 2020 (ALUS Ontario East), Tom and Margaret Towers (ALUS Red Deer County) in 2019, Joe Csoff (ALUS Norfolk) in 2018 and Gerry Taillieu (ALUS Parkland) in 2016. The award is supported by The Weston Family Foundation, an ALUS Champion of Conservation.

These and future recipients showcase a dedication to agricultural production as a way of life and exemplars of effective land stewardship. Truly, Dave Reid Award winnerse show us how the interest of agriculture and the environment intersect and support each other.

With heavy hearts, we marked the passing of the first recipient of the Dave Reid Award, Gerry Taillieu, in 2020. Gerry was an active ALUS participant and PAC member since the founding of ALUS Parkland in 2012. He implemented the program’s first-ever ALUS project and enrolled 226 acres of his land into the ALUS program.

Gerry Taillieu

Gerry Taillieu, 2016 Dave Reid Award winner.

Upon receiving the inaugural ALUS Canada Producer Innovation Award in 2016, Gerry told ALUS “There’s a saying, ‘we don’t own the land, but are just holding it in trust for the next generation.’ That’s a real social responsibility, and I take that quite seriously.”

Gerry and his fellow honorees Joe, Tom, Margaret and Marc, have established a legacy of stewardship that is honoured in their communities and is embodied in the cleaner water, cleaner air and biodiversity that flourishes in their stead.

Nomination Criteria

ALUS Receives Over $500,000 for Species at Risk Habitat in Ontario

ALUS Receives Over $500,000 for Species at Risk Habitat in Ontario

On August 21st, Ontario Minister David Piccini announced new funding for ALUS through the Species at Risk Stewardship Program   This pond at the Crump Family Farm helps improve water quality by holding, slowing and filtering water, benefitting species at risk in...

Partnerships Plant More Trees

Partnerships Plant More Trees

Community leaders from ALUS Northern Sunrise, Tree Canada and Alberta Conservation Association leverage new partnerships to accelerate environmental and community impacts    Aerial view of the ALUS Northern Sunrise tree planting project site. Credit: Katie...

Protecting Biodiversity in the Thames River Watershed

Protecting Biodiversity in the Thames River Watershed

ALUS Middlesex Continues to Protect Species at Risk by Creating Valuable New Habitat to Improve Biodiversity in the Thames River Watershed     The Thames River is a natural treasure that flows throughout Middlesex County and is a vital component of the region's...