The Souris and Area Branch of the P.E.I. Wildlife Federation is working on a pilot project that will help protect the rivers and streams of its watershed area by encouraging farmers to adopt more environmentally positive management practices.

The P.E.I. Ecological Goods and Services Land Management Pilot Project will get $354,000 in funding from Agriculture Canada over a two-year period go towards the promotion of more sustainable care of local watersheds by providing financial incentives to farmers.

Fred Cheverie, project manager with the Souris and area branch, said the objective is to help farmers with the costs involved in incorporating farm management practices that lessen and prevent environmental problems associated with agricultural production.

"The idea is to motivate farmers to take on the extra tasks to carry out these new practices,'' he said. "This money will not make them rich but will help cover expenses, and the hope is that after two years they will say to themselves, 'Ah, this is not too bad' and carry on."

The Souris branch has partnered with the Trout River Environmental Committee in this co-sponsored pilot project. It has 25-30 farmers participating in the Souris and Founds River areas and is the only one of its kind in eastern Canada, said Cheverie.

The project will pay farmers so much per acre, per year to integrate practices into their operations that reduce the impact of nutrient over-enrichment, soil erosion and pesticide application. These fixed payments include things like erosion control structures, hedgerows and grassed headlands in fields.

Taking sensitive high sloped land or land that runs along watercourses out of crop production is also eligible for payment. There are property tax incentives, as well as payment for the exclusion of environmentally sensitive land from allowable land holding limits.

Insurance-based strategies are also in place to encourage implementation of nutrient management plans. Payment for performance-based pesticide risk reduction is also there, said Cheverie.

Also on the list are per acre financial incentives to get rid of fall mouldboard plowing and establish winter cover cropping or mulching. This reduces erosion and creates increased soil organic matter levels. Maintaining fences to keep cattle from watercourses are also part of the project.

The compensation for these efforts run in the range from $100 per acre per year for creating diversion terraces to $8 per acre per year for spring plowing.

Part of the project is a pesticide risk reduction component that identifies different brands of traditional pesticides that are less harmful than others.

"With this new info farmers have a clearer understanding of which methods and product brands lowered their risk of environmental damage," said Cheverie.

The project began in 2007 and has one year completed.

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