Planting native plants in the Okanagan
Being a good steward for your property can be as simple as putting up a bird box or as complex as developing a full conservation plan. Regardless of the form it takes, stewardship is about caring for your land, knowing about its wildlife and geography and noticing changes to your property over time.
One of the biggest challenges landowners face when stewarding their land is learning about their local landscapes. Knowing about the native plants and animals that live in your area and on your property will help you better manage your property for both people and wildlife.
To learn about how your property fits into the local landscape, take a close look at the properties around you or visit some nearby protected areas.
Once you know about the local landscape, there are various tools you can use to help you manage your property. Stewardship activities can include protecting or restoring streams or wetlands, enhancing wildlife habitat by building bird boxes or bat houses, monitoring livestock grazing or simply allowing natural areas to remain undisturbed.
To help you become a better steward, here are some links to some fact sheets on different stewardship topics.
Grassland Stewardship (1.27MB PDF)
Water on Your Property (1.15 MB PDF)
Livestock Grazing (1.03 MB PDF)
Living with Wildlife (782KB PDF)
Making a Conservation Plan (858KB PDF)
These factsheets have been taken from “Stewardship of Small Farms and Acreages in the East Kootenay.”
For some landowners, a Stewardship Agreement can be an effective tool. A Stewardship Agreement is a written, voluntary agreement between a landowner and an organization like TLC. As the landowner, you promise to look after your property in certain ways, usually for a set length of time. Because of your agreement, TLC staff and volunteers may help you undertake stewardship activities on your property such as pulling weeds or planting native species. To look at a sample agreement, click here.
For landowners in some areas of the province, TLC staff are available to visit your property, provide information and help you make decisions about different stewardship activities.
