Conservation covenants and TLC: A ten year retrospective Presented by: Christina Waddle Regional Manager Vancouver Island/Coast Region ESRI User Conference, Thursday, June 21, 2007

Special Places. Forever, for Everyone.

Presentation Overview Introduction to TLC What are conservation covenants? Conservation covenants and TLC The future: GIS and covenant management Arbutus tree, Arbutus menziesii

What is TLC? Charitable, non-profit land trust, protecting private land in BC

Sea blush, Plectritis congesta What is a conservation covenant? Legal agreement between a landowner and a conservation organization, binds current and future owners Very similar to a conservation easement in the US Legislated by Land Title Act amended in 1994 Increasing land prices increase value of covenants Restricts use of the land to protect certain values

Land Ownership in British Columbia

Top 5% Rarity Hotspots in British Columbia Prepared by G.G.E. Scudder, University of British Columbia Department of Zoology and Centre for Biodiversity Research

First Steps in the Conservation Covenant process Landowner submits application to TLC, review and approval process Once approved, several steps are required prior to registration

From Approval to Registration Baseline Documentation Report Covenant document drafting Possible survey and/or appraisal report

Registered covenant management After registration, annual monitoring is required Landowner visits for danger trees, waivers, violations, etc. Dealing with violations

Trincomali Nature Sanctuary

Conservation Covenant Successes Protect over 1300 hectares, with over 150 individual covenants Leading the way on covenants in BC, cooperation with the Land Trust Alliance of British Columbia and others Cooperation with landowners and the community

Conservation Covenant Challenges Accurate and complete baseline inventories Annual monitoring obligations Violations Development Covenants Second generation landowners Solutions… one will include GIS

The Future: Covenant management and GIS Develop geodatabase to store and display data, and generate maps for baseline documentation reports Accurate and complete baseline inventories Complete and georeferenced record of monitoring observations and violations Additional program for properties we own and manage, including possible future research

For more information contact: Christina Waddle Regional Manager Vancouver Island/Coast Region (250) Thank you to the Society for Conservation GIS International Scholarship Program.