WHERE LAND MEETS LEGACY
Discover how land trusts are protecting Canada’s natural spaces and find out how you can support conservation efforts.
What is a land trust?
Land trusts are a non-profit charitable organization that holds as its core values the conservation of private property through donation, acquisition and/or conservation agreements (easements and covenants).
Bowen Island, Ontario, conserved by The Kensington Conservancy, is located in the St. Joseph Channel of Lake Huron. This island is a sanctuary for vital bird species and a hub of rich biodiversity.
What lands do they protect?
As opposed to a government sponsored conservation area, these land trusts protect private land in perpetuity, assuring the land stays conserved for generations to come.
The hallmark of a land trust is the direct action they take to protect the local land base, and that they hold those lands or conservation easements in trust for future generations.
Who can form a land trust?
A land trust can be set up by a group eligible to form a non-profit charitable society or organization. Thinking about starting a land trust? Learn what it takes to establish a land trust and how your group can contribute to conservation efforts.
“It is our natural spaces that hold the memories of our lives—and the stories of our family members that came before us. We all need to think about how we can contribute to our collective future prosperity.”
—Dennis Kingston, New Brunswick Nature Trust land donor
Land Trusts in Canada:
Photos by Joaquin Riesgo. Photos were taken in Quebec and British Columbia.
Explore the land trusts in your area through your provincial alliance’s website:
For the Prairies and Atlantic Provinces, you can still discover local land trusts dedicated to conservation.
Check out the list of organizations working to protect these vital landscapes.
Big Island ON
Big (Boyd/Chiminis) Island, conserved by Kawartha Land Trust, is the largest undeveloped island in the Kawarthas, home to pristine wetlands, lush forests, and diverse plant and wildlife species.
Bowen Island BC
Walking down to the coastal bluffs at the Cape Conservation Area, Bowen Island BC. Photo Owen Plowman. Courtesy Bowen Island Conservancy
La Tourbière de Saint-Joachim-de-Shefford QC
The Saint-Joachim-de-Shefford peat bog is a wetland with an area of approximately 200 hectares. Photo Joaquin Riesgo.
Blue Mt Wilderness Connector NS
Swirling morning mists and shoreline at a protected part of Cox Lake in the Blue Mountain- Birch Cove Lakes Wilderness Area near Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Photo Irwin Barrett.
Conservation Area AB
Rosebud River Conservation Area, Spruce Coulee Farms, Alberta. Courtesy Western Sky Land Trust.
Riverside Woods ON
Riverside Woods Nature Reserve, conserved by Bruce Trail Conservancy, spans 88 hectares of diverse forests, lush meadows, and wildlife habitats.
Land Acknowledgment
We express our gratitude for the lands, sky, and waters stretching across Canada, and the animals and plants who call it home. We are grateful for their beauty and bounty, and we thank Indigenous peoples who were and are the traditional guardians of this land. We are grateful for the land, sharing of knowledge, medicine, and much more.
Canada has been home since time immemorial to the ancestors of the First Nation, Métis people, and Inuit. As a national organization, ACLT operates in various parts of Canada, and we acknowledge that many of ACLT’s employees and volunteers are settlers working and living on traditional territories of the First Peoples of this land.
To understand and read more about the many Indigenous people and territories that exist here in the land we now know as Canada, please go to native-land.ca.
