Perth South Council Hears Update on Stewardship Project

Perth South Council was provided an update on the Perth County Stewardship Project at the March 7, 2023, Council meeting. Mel Luymes, Principal Consultant at Headlands ag-environ-solutions, and Sarah Franklin, Communications Officer, Perth County discussed the environmental stewardship program that was launched in 2022 to support resident environmental projects aimed at protecting our soil, water, and air.

The approach to be utilized is one where the County will listen to residents through a number of public input sessions, an online survey, and one-on-one discussions with a wide variety of local organizations including farming organizations and conservation authorities. In addition, existing programs established in other municipalities will be reviewed to learn best practices that could be incorporated into the Perth County program.

To date, over 150 surveys have been submitted and five input sessions have been held. The project leads indicated that people are eager to invest in environmental sustainability and the planting of more trees. In addition, it was noted that many are not familiar with the grant programs that are currently available, so an education component is important, but also having a staff member that can help farmers with their grant applications increasing the likelihood that their applications will be successful.