December 2022 eNews

Making Progress on Two World Crises In the face of rapid biodiversity loss and looming climate change, nature-based solutions like land conservation must play a key role in our efforts to heal and sustain our environment. Leading scientists and experts all over the world are saying that more needs to be done to protect the natural environment and it needs to be done faster. Five years ago we set out a plan to accelerate our land acquisition program and have been working hard ever since to meet these ambitious goals. So far in 2022, we have protected 7 properties and are on track to purchase 3 more – that’s 10 properties, 2157 acres. Each of these properties provides vital habitat to the endangered plants and animals that live on them, and are powerhouses of carbon sequestration. There are important and imperiled properties all over the province that are available right now. We have the expertise and experience to identify the best possible properties to meet this moment of crisis – we just need the funds to make it happen. By donating today, you can help The Nature Trust protect three more properties by the end of the year. Your donations will make this our biggest year for land conservation – and will contribute to the global fight against climate change and biodiversity loss. The fundraising deadline on these three projects is December 31st. All donations will receive tax receipts. There are many ways to give.

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Priority Projects

Saturna Island - Mount Fisher Bluffs We need to raise $50,000 to protect 77 acres of rare ecosystems from development on Saturna Island. This property is home to a number of endangered plants and is a known nesting area for Peregrine Falcon.  Read about the project and donate here.

Meteor Lake Wetland - Bog  We need to raise the last $35,000 to protect 581 acres of rare peat bog outside of Prince George. Peatlands play a critical role in mitigating the impacts of climate change, sequestering twice as much carbon as forests globally. Read about the project and donate here.

Columbia Lake North – Wetlands We need to raise $70,000 to protect 165 acres of wetlands near Columbia Lake in the East Kootenay. The area is part of a RAMSAR site, a wetland of international importance for migrating birds. The wetlands provide flood control and carbon capture.  Read about the project and donate here.

Living Estuary Join us in the estuaries of the Pacific coast to learn more about how these vital ecosystems support the bears, fish and birds in the first three episodes of The Living Estuary series.  Learn more here.

Notes from the Field We are lucky to have some of the best and brightest young conservationists working on our field crews. They do the heavy lifting of managing The Nature Trust’s more than 180,000 acres of conservation land across the province. This month we have stories from three of our crews. Okanagan Field Crew The Okanagan Field Crew sends us a story of their dark nights conducting bat counts on the White Lake Basin Biodiversity Ranch. Read the story here. Kootenay Field Crew The Kootenay Field Crew sends us news of partnership, reconciliation and stewardship with their story about the naming ceremony of Sqlewúlécw (pronounced Sklaow Ooloo), meaning ‘Beaver Creek,’ after extensive wetland restoration near Columbia Lake. Read the story here. South Coast Field Crew The South Coast Field Crew sends us news of their day fish sampling in the Fraser River to track the success of restoration efforts in the estuary. Read the story here.

Fall Magazine Our Fall Magazine is available online. Read through stories about Working with Nature, crew stories and projects and conservation information. View the online publication. Paper copies are also available! If you wish to receive a paper copy, please send us your mailing address. Get in contact.

The Nature Trust Joins Forces with Sports Junkies We've teamed up with Sports Junkies, a local Vancouver sporting goods store, to creatively raise funds for our work. For the rest of December and throughout 2023, you can donate your lightly-used sporting goods with a designation to The Nature Trust. Donated items will carry special tags bearing The Nature Trust of BC logo.  Fifty per cent of proceeds from these items will be donated to The Nature Trust, contributing to our conservation efforts in a valuable way. Read more about the campaign here.

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