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This is obviously a huge benefit to wildlife, but the Kambos found that their cherry yield actually increased despite the removed cherry trees because the large amount of water in the orchard helped regulate the surrounding air temperature and reduced the impact from late season frosts.

Consciously caring for wildlife habitat around a farm nearly always has positive effects.

LEED-certified Tantalus Vineyards in Kelowna has a significant Integrated Pest Management program. They strive to be insecticide-free and have numerous bird boxes scattered throughout the vineyards for insect-eating birds like bluebirds and swallows.

The abundance of insect-eating birds almost certainly provides a level of insect control that would be difficult to achieve otherwise; a single family of swallows will eat up 2,000 insects per day. In addition, several tall roosting posts are installed in the vineyards to provide vantage points from which birds-of-prey can hunt for rodents.

Tantalus Vineyards also preserves a 10-acre section of low-elevation forest habitat that provides a corridor through which wildlife can move safely, instead of coming into conflict with vineyard workers.

Leaving a natural area untouched is a simple and highly effective way to care for wildlife habitat.

The Venables and Brindamours of Forbidden Fruit Winery in Cawston do just this. They have one of the healthiest remaining Black Cottonwood forests in the Similkameen Valley, in addition to a large tract of beautiful sagebrush-steppe grassland. Recognizing the value of these areas, they have left them intact, providing habitat to all matter of local wildlife from rattlesnakes to the endangered Yellow-breasted Chat and Western Screech-owl.

As sustainable agriculture practices continue to grow in popularity and importance, so too does the importance of caring for natural habitats.

Initiatives like Okanagan Similkameen Stewardship’s Wildlife Habitat Steward program can help farmers implement wildlife-friendly practices while still maintaining all land use rights and decisions. For more information about OSS, or to inquire about becoming a Wildlife Habitat Steward, contact them at info@osstewardship.ca or 2507701467.

Valerie Maida works for the Okanagan Similkameen Stewardship Society. Learn more at www.osstewardship.ca