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<p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><font size="3" face="Times New Roman">The Credit Valley Conservation Authority manages the Credit River watershed in southern Ontario. It recently released a report entitled Natural Credit - Estimating the Value of Natural Capital in the Credit River Watershed, which included a section on the value of pollination to agriculture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>See <a href="http://www.creditvalleycons.com/bulletin/downloads/CVC-NaturalCreditReport.pdf">http://www.creditvalleycons.com/bulletin/downloads/CVC-NaturalCreditReport.pdf</a>, pages 36, 40, 41 in particular. Excerpted passage below: </font></span></p>
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<p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><font size="3" face="Times New Roman">“The value of agriculture occurring in the Credit River Watershed, which would not exist without the pollination services of insects, was calculated using estimates of the reliance on various crops on insects and the value generated by those crops within the watershed (as per the 2006 agricultural census). As a result, pollination services were estimated to be almost $4 million per year.”</font></span></p>
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<p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><font size="3" face="Times New Roman">The per capita value of pollination was estimated at $5/year (or about 1% of the $490/capita/year for the entire watershed).</font></span></p>
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<p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><font size="3" face="Times New Roman">The Credit River flows from its origins in Orangeville to Lake Ontario at Port Credit in the City of Mississauga. The watershed covers an area of almost 1,000 square kilometres and has a population of 757,600.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The Credit River Watershed is also an important sub-component of the Great Lakes Basin. Its most notable natural capital resources include wetlands, upland forests and water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>For more information on the Credit River or the Credit Valley Conservation Authority, check out <a href="http://www.creditvalleyca.ca/">www.creditvalleyca.ca</a>.</font></span></p>
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<p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><font size="3" face="Times New Roman">Victoria MacPhail</font></span></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><font size="3" face="Times New Roman"><a href="mailto:vmacphail@gmail.com">vmacphail@gmail.com</a></font></span></p></span></font></div></div></div></div>