Nature Conservancy of Canada

Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) is a Canadian private not-for-profit charitable environmental organisation established in 1962. The NCC works to achieve the direct protection of what they deem as Canada's most important natural treasures through property securement and long-term stewardship of properties. This property is acquired through various measures such as donation, purchase, conservation agreement and the relinquishment of other legal interests in land. It develops partnerships with government, business property owners and private owners.

The NCC aims to protect lands, waters, plants, animals, ecosystems and landscapes for the benefit of future generations. As of 2010, NCC has seven regional offices and has helped protect more than 2,000,000 acres (8,100 km²) of ecologically significant land throughout Canada.^[2] The Nature Conservancy of Canada is administered collaboratively by a Board of Directors and seven regional councils. A magazine entitled 'The Ark is distributed to members and donors.

Land acquisition

The Nature Conservancy of Canada works with private landowners to secure ecologically significant lands that have been identified as priorities for conservation action.

NCC acquires land through:

Outright purchase: NCC purchases a piece of land outright from a private landowner (corporate or individual).

Land donation: NCC receives a donation of land from a private landowner, be it corporate or individual.

Conservation agreement: NCC enters into a legal agreement in which a landowner agrees to the imposition of restrictions on activities that would threaten the ecological value of the land.

Relinquishment of rights: NCC negotiates the relinquishment of land use rights (for example mineral or timber rights) held by a private entity, in order to enable publicly-held land or water to be designated as a protected area.

The main activity of NCC is to work in partnership with individuals and landowners to acquire ecologically significant land in order to protect it for future generations.

The acquisition is done through donations, purchases, or indirectly through the acquisition of conservation easements and waiver of other legal interests in respect of land.

Nature Conservancy of Canada has several other activities contributing to the previous ones:

• Environmental monitoring for general application of international and national regulations in Canada and work with a network of scientific advisers and ecologists local volunteers to prioritize protection and acquisition.
• Monitoring and scientific research: Since 2000, NCC has established ecoregional assessments for 16 of the Canadian ecoregions:
• Contribute to scientific studies on environmental assessment, management plans or proposals, etc.. ;
• Contribute to training and education to the environment or to public education and property owners on the theme of biodiversity, endangered species, pollution, overexploitation of natural resources, sustainable development, eco-citizen attitudes, wood and forest, sea and ocean, freshwater, ecological footprint, etc.).

References

External links

• Nature Conservancy of Canada website
• Annual Report