October 8, 2004

Public Land Trust to Benefit all British Columbians

October 8, 2004

Public Land Trust to Benefit all British Columbians
Conservation Organizations Praise Province's Commitment to Conservation

Vancouver, B.C. — The founding members of the BC Conservation Land Trust Forum are extremely pleased with this week's announcement by the provincial government that will provide $8 million to create a new public lands trust and will support biodiversity conservation in British Columbia.

Announced jointly by the Minister of Sustainable Resource Management George Abbott and Minister of Water, Land and Air Protection, Bill Barisoff, the Campbell government are seeing this announcement as a fulfillment their New Era commitment to create a BC Trust for Public Lands.

The four key non-government conservation organizations that spearheaded this land trust forum are: Ducks Unlimited Canada, The Land Conservancy of B.C., Nature Conservancy of Canada, and The Nature Trust of British Columbia.

With a minimum requirement for matching dollars from the forum partners and the conservation sector, the trust will support improved conservation planning, and more efficient acquisition and management of private lands that have unique ecological values.

The establishment of this province wide partnership will result in the securement and management of all existing and future conservation lands as well as the development of innovative policy initiatives and provincial conservation planning tools.

"We are extremely pleased to see the government provide certainty of funding over the next few years. It's been a good process," said Ian Barnett, BC Director of Ducks Unlimited Canada.

Jan Garnett, Director of The Nature Conservancy of Canada's BC Program expressed similar enthusiasm: "Among many other things, the conservation planning component of these trust funds is critical in making the best choices, as we all work urgently to preserve the province's biodiversity for future generations."

The Land Conservancy's Executive Director, Bill Turner commented "The commitment of the provincial government through the establishment of this trust allows all of us to move forward and continue our partnership conservation efforts in the highest priority sites in BC."

From Doug Walker, Executive Director of The Nature Trust of BC: "It is a great pleasure to look forward on this important partnership and the conservation achievements we can implement."


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For more information, please contact:
Les Bogdan, Ducks Unlimited Canada
Tel. 604-592-5000
Bill Turner, The Land Conservancy of BC
Tel. 250-479-8053
Jan Garnett, Nature Conservancy of Canada
Tel. 250-479-3191
Doug Walker, The Nature Trust of British Columbia
Tel. 604-924-9771