The Comox Valley Land Trust is a local conservation organization working to conserve the natural wealth of the Comox Valley. This is accomplished by placing lands in trust for the benefit of the community and through education about the importance of ecosystems and habitats and their relationship to biological diversity. Healthy landscapes mean better human wealth and health. Do you and your family visit Hurford Hill, Master’s Greenway, Sandwick Forest or Cumberland Forest for recreation and enjoying nature? The CVLT holds conservation covenants in each of these parks and monitors their environmental protection annually. Would you be interested in participating as a “friends of” support volunteer with the Comox Valley Land Trust? This activity provides an opportunity to help monitor and conserve the natural beauty of these wonderful natural parks.
The Comox Valley Land Trust is expanding its land protection programs and needs more volunteers. This may come as a surprise, because the Comox Valley Land Trust has been confused in local circles with TheLand Conservancy of BC, commonly known as the TLC. Due to financial management and debt problemsthe high profile TLC has been forced to downsize and relinquish protection and ownership of several important conservation properties. But unlike the TLC, the local Comox Valley Land Trust has maintainedsound funding and a no debt management policy. We enter into binding conservation covenant agreements with private land owners or local municipal governments who retain possession of the protected property. Through these conservation covenants we focus on monitoring and maintaining the conservation and environmental standards for these protected properties. Since the Comox Valley Land Trust has remained financially solid and free of any mortgage or landownership liabilities, we are able to expand our services and programs on a sound financial basis.
Our major Comox Valley Conservation Strategy (CVCS) program addresses long-term land use and biodiversity protection issues on a regional basis working with Government policies and public educational processes. Visit cvconservationstrategy.org.The Comox Valley Land Trust presently holds 10 conservation covenants, 6 of these on privately owned wetlands and woodlands and 4 on public nature parks and community forests in the Comox Valley. We are in negotiations to provide conservation covenants on 2 new nature parks in the New Year. Now we need your help.
We want to build 3 “friends of” volunteer support groups to help monitor the condition of and help protect, for example by removing invasive plants, the following 3 public nature parks and community woodlands:
Hurford Hill Nature ParkMaster’s GreenwaySandwick forest Nature ParkThe Cumberland Forest has an active friends of program through the Cumberland Community Forest Society that monitors and promotes the Forest and the current expansion. There is opportunity to participate at every level. You can get involved with the Cumberland Forest by emailing info@cumberlandforest.com. Visit their website at www.cumberlandforest.com.
Please contact CVLT if you are interested in volunteering to protect and conserve Hurford Hill, Masters Greenway or Sandwick Forest. We need people who will help report problems, such as fire building and vandalism, and to help eradicate invasive species like holly and ivy. If you would like to volunteer to help protect a favourite park or forest in your area, then E-mail the Comox Valley Land Trust at cvlandtrust@gmail.com, or phone our Executive Director, Jack Minard at 250-792-4670. For further background information visit our website: www.cvlandtrust.ca.