January 28th, 2025: Islands Trust Conservancy Celebrates 35 Years of Conservation

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News Release  
200-1627 Fort Street, Victoria, B.C., V8R 1H8 
Telephone: 250-405-5186  
itcmail@islandstrust.bc.ca     islandstrust.bc.ca/conservancy 
 
January 28
th
, 2025 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  
Islands Trust Conservancy Celebrates 35 Years of Conservation  
Lək
̓
 ʷəŋən, METULIYE/Victoria, B.C.  ⎯  Islands Trust Conservancy recognizes 35 years as a conservation 
land trust focused on preserving and protecting over 450 islands in the Salish Sea.  
Since 1990, Islands Trust Conservancy has worked closely with landholders and communities throughout 
the Islands Trust Area to protect places they care about. To date, through generous donations, Islands 
Trust Conservancy has protected 115 properties — 34 nature reserves and 81 conservation covenants — 
totalling more than 1,385 hectares of ecologically and culturally significant land on islands in the Salish 
Sea. 
At the end of 2024, two new conservation covenants were registered: the Larmour Natural Area 
Protection Tax Exemption Program Conservation Covenant on Salt Spring Island, and the Koontz Natural 
Area Protection Tax Exemption Program Conservation Covenant on Gabriola Island. Both of these 
covenants protect a diversity of important species including the Blue-listed Northern Red-legged Frog, 
the Blue-listed Common Nighthawk, and numerous plants and insects.  
To protect donated places and the species that rely on them for the long term, Islands Trust 
Conservancy regularly monitors its properties and undertakes management, restoration, and research. 
This year, Islands Trust Conservancy will add a new position, in the role of Team Lead – Protected Area 
Management to provide additional support to the property management specialists that monitor and 
care for donated nature reserves and conservation covenants. 
The Conservancy accomplishes its work through positive partnerships. Looking ahead, Islands Trust 
Conservancy is prioritizing relationship-building and engagement with First Nations around land 
stewardship and conservation on the islands. 
"Over the past three decades, Islands Trust Conservancy has been committed to creating a network of 
protected areas that preserve the unique nature of the islands in the Salish Sea,” says Lisa Gauvreau, 
Chair of the Islands Trust Conservancy Board. “This region is unlike anywhere else in the world and 
people cherish it for many different reasons. We are committed to working together to ensure its 
protection for current and future generations.” 

Celebrate Islands Trust Conservancy’s 35th anniversary by contributing stories, favourite memories, and 
positive words for the Journal through the survey: www.surveymonkey.com/r/ITC35th. Islands Trust 
Conservancy will celebrate its 35th anniversary through various initiatives, including features in its 
Spring, Summer, and Fall Heron newsletters, a celebration at the Islands Trust Council meeting on Salt 
Spring Island from June 17–19, 2025, and the launch of a new blog on the ITC website, title

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