Jessica Hobden, SOS Stewardship Program
SOS Stewardship
Mell and Ken Thibault displaying their Wildlife Habitat Steward sign given to them by Natasha Lukey from SOS Stewardship.
Biodiversity—we hear a lot about how important it is, but it is not easy to figure out what difference it makes and what we can do about it.
In 2003, Ken and Mellhina Thibault purchased a soft fruit orchard in Osoyoos that became “Casa de Mell Orchards,” a family operated fruit stand and orchard. During cherry season customers can pick their own fruit or buy a variety of fruit at the roadside fruit stand on Highway 97. “When we moved here in 2003, we knew this was a special place. Mell and I reflected on the footprint we wanted to leave on the land, and wanted to balance agriculture with the environment,” says Ken Thibault.
The Thibaults wanted to show their grandson it is important to give back to the environment. They decided to work on an Environmental Farm Plan. A Farm Plan advisor helped point out the poor condition of a wetland area on their property and the potential for supporting biodiversity.
In 2005, with assistance from ‘Puddles for Peepers,’ a Ducks Unlimited program and the South Okanagan Similkameen Stewardship Program, the Thibaults removed several dump-truck loads of old agricultural equipment, garbage, and tree stumps from the wetland. A biologist encouraged them to build a pond for Great Basin Spadefoot, an endangered amphibian. The biologist provided a pond design and while the Thibaults bought the plants, the Environmental Farm Plan and conservation organizations provided assistance with digging and cleaning up the pond, and volunteers helped plant native vegetation.
In the years since the pond project was completed, the Thibaults have put up bat houses and continued with wildlife friendly plantings. There is an amphibian interpretive sign at the fruit stand and the Thibaults hope to build a path and little interpretive spot near the pond for visitors. About an acre is natural habitat with sandbar willow, cattails, trees, wildflowers, sedges and grasses.
Desert-adapted amphibians like the Great Basin spadefoot (often called a toad) and tiger salamander were once common in the southern interior. The spadefoot breeds in small temporary ponds and rain flooded fields, needing only six to eight weeks for the tadpoles to mature before living the rest of their lives on land, digging underground to survive the winter.
With rising temperatures and drier winters, spadefoot breeding areas have dried up and this rare amphibian is in trouble. After a couple of successful years with many spadefoots using the pond, the Thibaults have seen how the area is now rarely wet enough in spring to support tadpoles. With the help of the SOS Stewardship program, they are sharing the cost of installing a pond liner so the pond can be kept full during May and June.
Wetlands include ponds, marshes, and seasonally-flooded fields and are critical for the survival of wildlife. Communities in the Okanagan are waking up to the fact that wetland habitats are disappearing. Since the early 1800s, 85 to 90% of the large wetlands between Penticton and Osoyoos have been lost.
The loss of ponds and marshes is seen as a critical problem worldwide as well as in British Columbia. That is why the provincial government has recently strengthened the Water Act, making it illegal to alter any natural watercourse, including creeks, springs, ravines, swamps and dry gulches on private land and agricultural land without approval. Modifications to these natural areas must be approved by the Water Stewardship Division of the Ministry of Environment.
There is no financial compensation for allowing your land to be natural habitat. The Thibaults have put a lot of sweat equity into their conservation project, but local conservation organizations have stepped up to help as well. Their neighbours are very supportive and have helped with various wildlife projects.
The Thibaults have signed a partnership agreement with SOS Stewardship. In exchange for their ongoing care of natural habitat on their property, they receive assistance with planning and some financial help with stewardship improvements. “It is important that it is non-government. We have a say and can be open about our planning with no one is telling us what we can do with our land. The partnership is for the land so it’s a great partnership and we’ve had nothing but a positive experience,” says Mell Thibault. “We wish there was more money, but we do what we can every year. The people in SOS stewardship try really hard to help us.”
Ken and Mell have joined on as “Wildlife Habitat Stewards” with the South Okanagan – Similkameen Stewardship Program, and have a sign they can post on their farm gate.
SOS Stewardship promotes the voluntary stewardship of important habitat on private lands. Program staff offer information on habitat conservation and restoration, as well as options for permanent conservation protection. The SOS Stewardship program was established in 1994 to work with farmers, ranchers and rural landowners to help restore and protect precious habitat. Contact them in Penticton at 250-809-1980 or visit their web site www.soscp.org/stewardship to learn more about their programs and land owner partners. ■
Margaret Holm works for the South Okanagan Similkameen Conservation Program, one of 50 organizations working to keep nature in our future.