The new covenant on Knapp Island protects 14.26 acres of at-risk Coastal Douglas-fir habitat.
Help Us Raise $38,000 for B.C.’s Critical Habitats
Dear friends,
Excitement is in the air as spring washes over the beautiful province we call home. I love to hear the stories of TLC supporters at this time of year: a retiree regales the triumphant trumpeting of returning migratory sandhill cranes over her acreage in the Clearwater River Valley; an avid hiker reports the brilliant yellow of sagebrush buttercup, one of the Thompson-Okanagan’s first spring wildflowers, poking through the snow; a father gushes over his family’s experience watching eagles and California sea lions’ frenzied feasting of herring spawn off the shores of Hornby Island. Each joyful conversation bubbles with anticipation for the adventures of longer and warmer days.
This spring’s sense of renewal also holds true at TLC’s office. With our 2025-29 Strategic Plan now in place, staff and board are eager to put words into action in the realms of reconciliation, partnerships, covenant cultivation and management, technology, education, fundraising, and more. Adjustments to the covenant registration process have already created new conservation areas, like the covenant protecting 14.26 acres of threatened Coastal Douglas-fir habitat on Knapp Island. Located just north of the Swartz Bay ferry terminal on Vancouver Island, and within the traditional territories of the WSÁNEĆ (Saanich), W̱JOȽEȽP (Tsartlip), SȾÁUTW̱(Tsawout), and W̱SIḴEM (Tseycum) First Nations, Knapp Island is home to provincially red and blue-listed ecological communities. The island also provides refuge to at-risk wildlife like the great blue heron (Ardea Herodias spp. fannini). Thanks to the enthusiastic partnership with Knapp Island’s titleholders, this small island will remain undisturbed in a region facing increasing development pressure.
TLC is committed to ensuring quality care for each unique protected area.
While the words of a covenant agreement promise legal protection of B.C.’s natural habitats, it is the actions of the land trust that ensure that they thrive in perpetuity. TLC has an ongoing duty of care to each of our (now) 251 conservation covenants and 10 properties across the province. For each protected area, we are responsible for land management planning, ecosystem monitoring, covenant-related communications, and, if needed, the facilitation of ecological restoration, covenant defense, and enforcement. With B.C.’s ecosystems comprising northern boreal forests to temperate rainforests, wetlands, grasslands, and everything in between, the stewardship of each protected area is unique and requires delicate attention. Albeit challenging to work with at times, B.C.’s incredible diversity adds fulfilling variety to the conservation work we accomplish from year to year.
2025 brings yet another bustling field season. As I write this, the covenants team is travelling to Trail to monitor Fort Shepherd Conservancy Area’s ecosystems and to meet with partners to discuss the progress of wildfire mitigation, ungulate winter refuge habitat restoration, pollinator migratory pathway development, and artificial bat roosting habitat creation projects. With bone bingo, spin-the-wheel trivia, Fort Shepherd Kids Activity Books, and other gamified educational materials, the team will enlighten the public with Fort Shepherd’s incredible ecosystems at TLC’s Passport to Nature ‘Critter Day’ event. Co-hosted by the Kootenay Conservation Program, Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program, and Trail Wildlife Association, this event draws thousands of youth and their families.
Monitoring-related travels this year will bring the covenants team from the west coast of Vancouver Island to the far south-eastern reaches of the Kootenays near the Alberta border. I’m sure you can imagine the time and effort it takes our covenant team to survey over 15,000 acres across B.C. For this reason, TLC committed to building greater covenant monitoring capacity in our latest Strategic Plan. To facilitate this, we have embraced the use of the remote monitoring system, ‘Lens’ by Upstream Tech Inc. Not only has Lens allowed us to examine hard-to-reach areas and proactively identify areas at risk of degradation, but it has also greatly increased our monitoring capacity: last fiscal year we achieved a 100% monitoring rate!
Michelle, TLC Property and Covenant Manager, records data on mapping software while monitoring TLC’s Hollyhock covenant on Cortes Island.
Your support is essential to the sustainable preservation of B.C.’s precious natural areas.
Technology will continue to enhance TLC’s ability to create and communicate informed, defensible conservation decisions, but it will never replace our reliance on partnerships within the conservation community. The voices, expertise, and generosity of TLC’s covenant co-holders, partners, and supporters like you are invaluable to sustainably caring for the protected areas we manage.
Abkhazi Garden is a shining example of community conservation in action. In February 2000, TLC acquired the garden after a local group of determined advocates circulated a petition to protect the garden from development. This year, Abkhazi Garden celebrates its 25th Anniversary of Conservation. The garden that love built thrives thanks to over sixty volunteers and multitudes of benevolent donors. By matching grant funding, donors have realized Abkhazi Garden’s latest ambitious infrastructure project: replacing the garden’s historic driveway with an accessible and environmentally friendly walkway. The new walkway will help preserve water on the property while welcoming thousands of visitors for many years to come. 2025 also marks the completion of Abkhazi’s rezoning process. The new zoning has reconfirmed Abkhazi’s heritage designation and has placed a covenant held with the City of Victoria on title. These added legal protections will ensure the garden remains an urban sanctuary for all to enjoy in perpetuity.
Abkhazi Garden’s new wheelchair-accessible walkway is made of permeable materials to preserve water on the property.
Volunteers have been fundamental to the restoration of multiple protected areas, including TLC’s Alston-Stewart Estate in the Blenkinsop Valley and our covenant within Ayum Creek Regional Park in Sooke. The suppression of invasive periwinkle (Vinca minor) using the sheet mulching method has been ongoing at Ayum Creek since 2017. From Girl Guides to Edward Milne Community School students and UVic sororities, youth continue to champion the revitalization of this important connector between forest and sea. Over the past two years, Passport to Nature events at our Alston-Stewart properties have gathered the support of 137 volunteers. To date, 37.3 cubic meters (the equivalent volume of 233 bathtubs) of invasive English ivy (Hedera helix), English holly (Ilex acquifolium), daphne-laurel (Daphne laureola), and Himalayan blackberry (Rubus armeniacus) have been removed, and nearly half an acre (1,980 square meters) of the forest floor has been cleared.
With volunteer opportunities and nature-based learning events, TLC’s Passport to Nature program serves to bring B.C.’s conservation community together. This year offers many chances to engage with fellow nature lovers with forest and fungi naturalist-led interpretive hikes, invasive species removal at our Alston-Stewart Estate, Abkhazi Garden’s 25th Anniversary of Conservation fall open house and plant sale, and more. We would cherish your presence at a future Passport to Nature event!
Will you join us in protecting B.C.’s biodiversity in perpetuity?
This spring, we are aiming to raise $38,000 to support our work caring for over 15,000 acres across B.C. Your invaluable contributions will help us protect new biodiverse areas, perform essential ecological monitoring tasks, and directly steward sites, ensuring B.C.’s natural habitats remain vibrant and healthy for present and future generations to enjoy.
Please consider donating online, calling 1-877-485-2422, or mailing your donation to our office to contribute to the protection of these critical areas today. Donations are eligible for 2025 tax receipts.
Your gift will support our work in upholding and defending sensitive ecosystems like those on Knapp Island and beloved community greenspaces like Abkhazi Garden. On behalf of TLC’s staff and board, thank you for your generosity!
With gratitude,
Dianna Stenberg
Executive Director
The Land Conservancy of B.C.
P.S. We value in-kind support too! Helping hands are always appreciated around the office and in the field. We are actively looking for communications volunteers to help with bi-annual mailings, like the LANDmark newsletter, and for new members to join our board of directors. Prefer an out-of-office volunteer opportunity? Our next restoration day at the Alston-Stewart Estate in the Blenkinsop Valley is on October 4th! Please contact us or visit www.conservancy.bc.ca/volunteer to learn more about our upcoming volunteer opportunities.
