The Land Conservancy of British Columbia (TLC) just announced a new conservation covenant created voluntarily by private landowners on southern Cortes Island.

The 16.49 acres are on traditional lands of the Klahoose and Tla’amin First Nations. According to TLC, there is a wildlife corridor linking two other safeguarded areas (Hank’s Beach Forest Conservation Park to the west and Poison Cove to the east), and there are 17 at-risk species or ecological communities on the property, including Band-tailed Pigeon (Patagioenas fasciata), Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica), Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias fannini), Northern Red-legged Frog (Rana aurora), and Wallace’s Selaginella/Reindeer Lichens (Selaginella wallacei/Cladina spp.). 

The covenant likewise protects existing private walking trails, two ponds, and is unique among similar protected areas across BC due to the mature stage of the forest. 

According to TLC, conservation covenants are collaborative and legal agreements between environmentally-motivated landowners and a charitable land trust (such as TLC). The current property owners, who requested to remain anonymous, said, “the reality is that many ecologically important areas like ours would be lost to future development were it not for the existence of The Land Conservancy of B.C," in an Oct. 4 statement from the TLC. 

"There [are] a lot of people with holdings, who care deeply about protecting ecosystems, wildlife habitat, flora and fauna. A large number of people in their retirement years are looking at their holdings and saying, 'Okay, what's next, what happens when I'm gone?'' TLC's Executive Director Cathy Armstrong said.

TLC is a provincial entity entrusted with 245 covenants and its main liaison on Cortes Island is biologist Sabina Leader Mense.

Click below to listen to the interview with Cathy Armstrong, executive director of The Land Conservancy of British Columbia: