Drew Bondar, executive director of the Delta Farmland & Wildlife Trust (DF&WT), is incredibly grateful for the funding the City of Delta has provided over the years.
In a presentation that Bondar made to council on July 26, it was calculated that a to-date total of $621,555 had been given to the organization that promotes preserving farmland and wildlife habitats on the lower Fraser River delta.
“Delta certainly deserves a lot of recognition getting behind the DF&WT so long ago, supporting programs that were quite innovative at the time and, really, have only become more important over time as we contend with many different global issues such as climate change, biodiversity loss and soil degradation,” said Bondar in a Zoom presentation to council.
Following his presentation, council released an additional $50,000 to the organization as part of their 2021/22 grant.
During the meeting, Coun. Lois Jackson asked if the city’s funding was going far enough for the non-profit.
Bondar answered saying the organization was very fortunate to receive the funding from the city that they do, but acknowledged that with additional financial support, the DF&WT could definitely do more, much-needed preservation work, alongside local farmers.
Council agreed that, at the next Agricultural Advisory Committee in September, there would be a discussion to create potential recommendations for how the city can better support the organization.
Between 2005 and 2018, the City of Delta provided $15,000 yearly to DF&WT, and in 2019, they adjusted the amount to $50,000 for the next four years.
The $50,000 that was provided for the 2020/21 year supported the DF&WT’s Grassland Set-aside stewardship program, the Winter Cover Crop stewardship program, the Forage Enhancement program and annual monitoring and evaluation.
