Standard 11: Conservation Agreement Stewardship
The land trust has a program of responsible stewardship for its conservation agreements.
Background
A land trust that accepts and holds conservation agreements commits itself to their annual stewardship in perpetuity, to enforcement of their terms, and to building positive landowner and community relationships to support the land trust’s conservation programs and enforcement actions. A land trust that fails to do so may eventually lose its credibility, could cause its conservation agreement program to be invalidated, may erode public confidence in conservation agreements, and ultimately risk the protection of the land. Not all land trusts have the capacity to hold conservation agreements in perpetuity and may achieve their conservation goals through partnerships with other organizations, fee ownership or other conservation methods. These practices will help ensure that the important conservation values protected by conservation agreements are sustained over time.
Relevant Law
- Society Act, RSBC 1996, c. 433, s. 27.
- Canada Corporations Act, RSC 1970, c. C-32.
- Income Tax Act, SC 1985, c. I, s. 149.1 (6.3);
see also Canada Revenue Agency policy interpretations at
- Expropriation Act, RSBC 1996, c. 125.
- Expropriation Act, SC 1996, c. E-21.
- Property Law Act, RSBC 1996, c. 377, s. 35.
- Land Title Act, RSBC 1996, c. 250, s. 218-223.
- Employment Standards Act, RSBC 1996, c. 113.
- Workers Compensation Act, RSBC 1996, c. 492.
- Human Rights Code, RSBC 1996, c. 210.
- Canada Pension Plan, c. C-8.
- Employment Insurance Act, SC 1996, c. 23.
- Society Act, RSBC 1996, c. 433.
- Canada Corporations Act, RSC 1970, c. C-32.
PRACTICE
H. Contingency Plans for Backup Holder
If a land trust regularly consents to being named as a backup or contingency holder, it has a policy or procedure for accepting conservation agreements from other land trusts and has a plan for how it will obtain the financial resources and organizational capacity for conservation agreements it may receive at a future date. (See 11G.)
Background
It is vital that every land trust consider what will happen to its assets if the organization ceases to exist, and plan accordingly. One strategy is to include backup or contingency provisions in the conservation agreement. This strategy may not be effective, however, without alerting the potential backup grantees or providing the necessary funding for backup grantees to take on the responsibility for the conservation agreements. In these two practices, original grantees and future grantees are encouraged to follow established procedures and plan accordingly. In planning for a backup strategy, land trusts should have complete files for each conservation agreement and stewardship funds available to transfer to a new conservation agreement holder. Land trusts that regularly agree to be a backup holder may want to have criteria for what projects they will accept. Some land trusts that are named as backup holders follow the same acquisition and approval process for backup interests as they do when they are accepting any other conservation agreement. Land trusts should also transfer any endowment funds that are specific to the property in question to the new conservation agreement holder. Environment Canada must authorize the transfer of any Ecological Gift properties, including conservation agreements, or land trusts may face penalties under Section 207.31 of the Income Tax Act.
