Transcript Agriculture By Ruedi Mani Brief History of Agriculture • Farming began in BC in the 1800s • Fort Fraser was the first town to.

Agriculture
By Ruedi Mani
Brief History of Agriculture
• Farming began in BC in the 1800s
• Fort Fraser was the first town to be farmed by
non aboriginal people
• Farming was needed to support the fur
traders with food
• Commercial demand for agriculture began
during the caribou and Klondike gold rushes
• Ranching began mainly in the Nicola and
Thompson Valleys
• Once the CPR was finished, it opened up a
domestic market
• Finally in the 1880’s the Okanagan started
orchid farming
Importance of Agriculture
• BC’s fertile soil and climate make it possible for
farmers to create over 250 commodities to keep for
consumption or to export
• The agri-food industry is a main part of BC’s
economy.
• The industry has created over $2.2 billion in about 10
years
• Almost 98% of all farming in BC is family run
• Farmland takes up about 2.5 million hectares
in BC
• 724 000 cattle are farmed in BC alone
• In 2002 crops in BC earned over $1 billion
The problem
• Wetlands in BC benefit the environment in
many ways
• They are being converted into farmland and
other agricultural areas ever since European
settlers started farming
• A lot of the wetlands that still exist are being
polluted, eroded, and modified to meet our
needs
Wetland Conversion
• By 1997 the area of wetlands had declined by 50% since first
settlement in North America
• About 40% of the wetlands were converted for agricultural
purposes.
• About 800 000 acres of wetland are drained or filled per year
• The amount of wetlands being converted for agriculture since
the 1950s is slowly dropping
Wetland Degradation
•
Although wetland conversion is slowing down,
agriculture still has a large effect on wetland
areas in many ways
• Such as groundwater being withdrawn for
irrigation and flooding that turn wetlands into
ponds or lakes
• Sediment from soil erosion clogs wetlands
and limits the amount of water they can hold
Pollution and Alteration of Vegetation
• The runoff from farmland contains pesticides, animal waste,
fertilizers, and other toxic substances that pollute wetlands
and effect the organisms living in and around it
• Clearing vegetation or introducing non native plant species
can alter the native wildlife habitats
• Some direct impacts of the grazing of livestock on wetlands
are trampling of soil, compaction of soil, the removal of
biomass, and alteration of the nutrients in the soil.
Global context of the issue
• This issue isn’t just in BC but everywhere within the world
with agriculture and wetlands is having this issue.
• Since the 1600s more than half of the original wetlands in the
lower 48 states have been drained or converted for other
uses
• Destruction of wetlands can lead to increased flooding the
extinction of species, and poor water quality.
Effects on animal populations
• As more wetlands are destroyed, the continental population
of ducks continues to decrease.
• The continental duck population has decreased from 45
million to 31 million ducks in the last 15 years.
• The pollution of wetlands caused by run off from agricultural
areas can effect the area so it is unlivable for its original
species
The Solution
• A way to limit pollution to the wetlands would be to stop
using chemical fertilizer and pesticides. This would make
the run off from agricultural areas less polluting.
• One of the main acts we can do is to stop turning wetlands
into farmland and to restore the wetlands that have been
converted already.
• Limiting the amount of cattle in an area will stop the soil from
being trampled and will allow for the plants to take in
nutrients more naturally
Bibliography
• "The Importance of Agriculture and Agri-Food to British Columbia." 1 Apr.
2004. Web. 24 May 2015.
<http://water.epa.gov/type/wetlands/outreach/upload/threats.pdf>
• "Agriculture's Impacts on Wetlands and Riparian Areas." 2004. Web. 24
May 2015.
<http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/wq/wqp/wetlands/factsheets/FactsheetWR2.
pdf>
• "Threats to Wetlands." 1 Sept. 2001. Web. 24 May 2015.
<http://water.epa.gov/type/wetlands/outreach/upload/threats.pdf>