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IN THIS ISSUE   |   LTABC News   |   ACLT News   |   Conservation News
Member Profile
   |   Events & Education  |   Funding

Land Trust Alliance of British Columbia accepts donations year round to aid in our conservation programs. These can be one-time, monthly, corporate matching, and planned giving. Read more about donation options here. Find a full list of our member organizations here.

LTABC NEWS

ACLT NEWS

CONSERVATION NEWS

Stories of Conservation

How is land conserved? Every parcel of land conserved by land trusts has a unique story to tell. Many take years of hard work to achieve; all are ongoing labours of love! Here are videos about two very different properties on Vancouver Island.

Battle of the Beaver Lodge Lands – Gift and Compromise tells the story of a community coming together to protect ecologically important land from the expansion of the city of Campbell River. Greenways Land Trust maintains the Beaver Lodge Lands with the help of the community through their Adopt-A-Trail program. Learn more here.

Abkhazi Garden was purchased by TLC The Land Conservancy 23 years ago this month! The purchase saved the one-acre property from townhouse development, and also saved the story of the fascinating couple who began to create their beautiful garden there in 1946. The added bonus of this garden is its lovely teahouse! Watch Tea & Gardens S1 EP 1 for the history and the present day activities of Abkhazi Garden in Victoria. Learn more here.

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES

The Nature Trust of British Columbia (NTBC) is looking for a Fund Development Coordinator to join their team. The Fund Development Coordinator will bring their exceptional event logistics skills to the organization’s signature events, while seeking opportunities to expand to third-party and community events (info here). They are also looking for a Digital Engagement Coordinator. The Digital Engagement Coordinator will be a results-focused, creative communicator responsible for coordinating The Nature Trust of BC’s digital presence and implementing strategies and plans to raise public awareness, grow engagement and support fundraising goals (info here). Closing date for both positions February 6, 2023.
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Islands Trust is seeking a Co-op Student – Conservation and GIS Technician Summer 2023. Acting under the supervision of the Islands Trust Conservancy Manager, the co-op student’s work will be directed by the Property Management Specialist and Covenant Management & Outreach Specialist with support from the GIS Technician. The student will gain a wide range of experience working both in the field and in a local government office. The ideal candidate will have experience in both geographic information systems (GIS) and conservation biology. Work will be divided roughly as follows: 60% field work; 30% GIS/mapping; and 10% related data entry/curation. More info here. Closing date February 6, 2023.
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RAVEN is seeking a new Executive Director. Founded more than a decade ago, RAVEN is a registered charity that raises funds supporting Indigenous Peoples’ access to justice and environmental justice. RAVEN stands for Respecting Aboriginal Values and Environmental Needs. Its core work provides Indigenous Peoples reliable, long-term financial support to fully assert their legal rights in court for the benefit of their communities and the broader environment. RAVEN has enjoyed rapid growth since its inception, and now raises over $1M each year towards its mission. Find the full job description on the Crawford Connect website. Closing date February 20, 2023.
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The Pender Islands Conservancy invites applications for a 4-month Conservation Interpreter position, beginning May 9 and ending August 29, 2023. In a typical week, as a member of the team, the successful candidate may find themselves at the Nature Centre at Hope Bay engaging with visitors about conservation issues on Pender Island, delivering an educational interpretive program at the Saturday Farmer’s Market or at a pop-up event at some beautiful location on Pender, or working in a monitoring or restoration project in the community. More info here. Closing date February 20, 2023.
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Cowichan Estuary Nature Centre has two available positions for their spring nature & science programs: School Program Coordinator & Contract Educator. For full details, visit their website. Closing date February 21, 2023.

Focus on Stewardship & Restoration

MEMBER PROFILE

Forests for Future: Raincoast’s land trust

Raincoast Conservation Foundation established its land trust in late 2020, which falls under the umbrella of our Forest Conservation Program. Operating a land trust allows Raincoast to purchase and protect ecologically significant land in areas where environmental regulations are inadequate to protect and conserve local habitats and biodiversity on private land. The land Raincoast targets for purchase are strategically chosen to increase protection of large tracts of intact habitat to increase connectivity, ecological integrity, and climate resilience.

To date, Raincoast’s land purchase efforts have been undertaken in partnership with the Pender Islands Conservancy Association and focused on the Coastal Douglas-fir (CDF) biogeoclimatic zone, which is the smallest and most threatened of 16 such zones in British Columbia. Despite being among the most biodiverse collections of ecological communities in the province, it is also among the least protected, and this protection is mostly made up of small disconnected patches. It covers less than 0.3% of BC, which represents its entire national extent. Given the high percentage (80%) of private land ownership and intense development pressures in this region, opportunities for ecological protection are limited, and if they do exist, expensive. At no point in history has the importance of preserving remaining tracts of undeveloped foreshore, forests, and wetlands within this region been more urgent. As climate change places unprecedented uncertainty on food security and living conditions for the species of this region, the best chance to maintain stability and build resilience is by ensuring their long-term protection through purchase.

Since establishing this new branch of Raincoast’s operational capacity, two properties have been successfully protected on S,DÁYES (Pender Island), W̱SÁNEĆ Territory in partnership with Pender Islands Conservancy Association: S,DÁYES Flycatcher Forest (2021), and much more recently, KELÁ_EKE Kingfisher Forest (2023)! Both these properties are representative of ecological communities characteristic of the CDF zone, and are home to a diversity of bird, bat, and amphibian species, a number of which appear in Schedule 1 of the Species at Risk Act.

In the ecological communities characteristic to the CDF zone, there is no set-it and forget-it approach to land protection, particularly in the face of the twin biodiversity and climate crises. Active restoration, or land healing, is needed to help these places recover from a long legacy of logging, soil compaction, alien species invasions, browse pressure from hyper-abundant deer populations, widespread carnivore extirpation, and myriad other pressures. In the years ahead, Raincoast will be working with our partners to develop and implement management and restoration plans for the lands we have worked to protect. We will also continue to pursue other facets of the Forest Conservation Program, namely research and policy analysis to pursue stronger protections for all the ecological communities that exist with no, or very minimal, levels of protection on southern BC’s stunning coastline.

Contact: Shauna Doll, Forest Conservation Program Director, Raincoast Conservation Foundation shauna@raincoast.org

EVENTS & EDUCATION

FUNDING

The Nature Trust of BC’s Brink/McLean Grassland Conservation Fund application deadline is February 10, 2023 at 4:30 pm. The Brink/McLean Grassland Conservation Fund, established by The Nature Trust of BC in May 2001, honours two of Canada’s most celebrated conservationists and past Board members (Dr. Bert Brink and Dr. Alastair McLean) who devoted much of their lives to conserving BC’s native grasslands. The objective of the Brink/McLean Grassland Conservation Fund is to promote research, habitat restoration and other stewardship activities that will assist in the management of the land, plants and animals of BC’s native grasslands. Find full application details here. NTBC also provides two scholarships: the Bert Hoffmeister Scholarship at the University of British Columbia, and the Dr. Ian and Joyce McTaggart-Cowan Scholarship at the University of Victoria. The Rain Garden Fund has been created thanks to their donors. See this link for information about all of NTBC's Scholarship and Funding opportunities.

TD Friends of the Environment Foundation's next grant submission deadline is July 15, 2023. Find more information here.

Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation provides a variety of conservation grants throughout the year. For more info on available grants and application timelines, visit HCTF’s website.

The Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program’s annual grant intake is now closed. Find more information about the program here.

The Victoria Foundation offers a variety of grant opportunities. Find out more on their website.

Vancity Savings Credit Union enviroFund™ Program encourages programs or projects that support sustainable consumption and production practices in our communities. Find more information here.

Other Resources

Environmental Dispute Resolution Fund from West Coast Environmental Law. Applications are reviewed once a month. Read more here.

Use Giveffect to create an online fundraising campaign. Visit here.

Funding: Capacity Building – Land Trust Conservation Fund
& Province of BC Gaming Branch

Copyright (C) 2023 Land Trust Alliance of British Columbia. All rights reserved.

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