NEW – Conservation Offsets –(image of cover on right)
A Financial Revenue Tool for Conserving Natural Areas,
Watersheds, and Community Resilience.
Written by Briony Penn
based on LTABC’s two prior research reports
on protecting and valuing Living Carbon
Released May 20009 - Credible Conservation Offsets for Natural Areas in BC
"Conserve Nature Today then Plant Trees for Tomorrow"
says both leading BC Ecologist and Forester, Richard J Hebda and Dirk Brinkman
This 58 page summary report provides the scientific and technical rationale for protecting existing forests as forest sinks. The emerging Offset Market may provide financial support for protecting and managing existing forests, and restoring degraded ones.
This report reviews the context and opportunities for valuation of carbon and ecosystem services for offset projects in BC. Conservation projects, including a site’s ecological restoration and management, provide options for generating revenue and support for conservancies, land trusts, First Nations, and other owners and managers of protected and conserved lands. The report compliments recent discussion papers about carbon offsets for BC’s diverse and rich ecosystems.
The Impacts if Conservation Covenants on BC Property Assessments
The Land Trust Alliance of BC worked with the Assessment Authority and Alan Kotila, an Accredited Appraiser to report on the impacts on property taxes of Conservation Covenants. The results and guide to reassessment if needed have been published in a revised 2010 16-page report, Property Assessments of Conservation Lands, A Guide for Land Owners, Land Trusts and Covenant Holders - Case Studies and Resources...
For the report with the annotated bibliography click here
(Click on link above or on image cover to the right, to download for free)
For printed copy - Cost is $6.00 plus $2.00 for shipping in Canada.
Contact LTABC to order.
NEW REPORT Available:
A New Climate for Conservation
We are very pleased to announce the release of a multi-organizational report authored by Dr. Jim Pojar recommending increased conservation of natural areas in BC to mitigate and adapt to climate change and protect BC’s biodiversity. This report is the result of over a year’s work in partnership with the Working Group: Biodiversity, Forests and Climate, including The Land Trust Alliance of BC.
A New Climate for Conservation- Nature, Carbon and Climate Change in British Columbia.
Click here for the Media Release
Click here for the Executive Summary
Click here for the full report
Water Licences and Conservation: Future Directions for Land Trusts in British Columbia - Full Report
Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change Through the Conservation of Nature.
 The Land Trust Alliance of British Columbia (LTABC) has just released a landmark report authored by economic and climate change experts, Sara J. Wilson and Richard J. Hebda. Sara is a leading Canadian researcher on Ecological Economics, which is an emerging field that values nature’s services. Richard J. Hebda is the Curator of Botany and Earth History Royal BC Museum, an adjunct associate professor, Biology, Schools of Earth and Ocean Sciences and Environmental Studies at the University of Victoria and a respected, published author and presenter on climate change.
Current and future climate change will impact forests, wetlands, rivers, and coastal areas, as well as the human communities that depend upon them. International studies have reported that northern forests and the Arctic region are the most affected by the changing climate. Climate in northern areas, including British Columbia is warming, and will likely continue to warm, more rapidly than the global average
This report provides an overview of:
- the role that natural ecosystems play to mitigate and adapt to climate change;
- the projected impacts of climate change on ecosystems in British Columbia; and,
- strategies to reduce impacts, focusing on conservation and ecosystem protection.
The immense stores of carbon in existing ecosystems are of great importance for both mitigation and adaptation to climate change, especially compared to the potential of removing atmospheric carbon by planting new forests. Carbon storage in young forests takes a long time especially in terms of replacing lost carbon. Second, because there is so little time to slow global warming, the priority should be on preventing carbon losses and conserving the carbon stores that exist. Third, by protecting existing ecosystems there will be a wide range of habitat to provide connecting corridors for plant and animal migration as the climate warms. Fourth, the protection of intact ecosystems provides resiliency for ecosystems and the communities that depend upon them.
This report clearly demonstrates that conserving land with healthy natural ecosystems is a cost effective and important strategy to both mitigate and adapt to climate change. The report concludes that the conservation of intact ecosystems for the numerous values and services they bring humans, in addition to providing habitats for wildlife, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning and the health of communities needs to be a significant part of any climate change strategy for both mitigation and adaptation to changing climates.
Executive Summary (click here)
Full report (click here)
Graphic to demonstrate forest mitigation values (click here)
Photos from the report (click here and here)
Media Release (click here)
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