The Heron Newsletter Spring 2010

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THE HERON A NEWSLETTER FROM THE ISLANDS TRUST FUND
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SPRING 2010
I
t was May 17, 1990 when three trustees convened the 
inaugural meeting of the Trust Fund Board. They were 
determined to translate the Islands Trust’s ‘preserve and 
protect’ mandate into direct results for the Strait of Georgia. 
By the year’s end, they had already succeeded in protecting 72 
hectares of Salt Spring Island forest. 
Twenty years later, we invite you, our friends and partners, to 
take a moment to celebrate some of the major accomplishments 
the Islands Trust Fund could not have achieved without your 
help.
Together, we have protected 19 nature reserves and 58 
conservation covenants, leaving a legacy of more than 990 
hectares of sensitive habitat permanently protected for the 
future. We have protected treasured island landscapes; just a 
few of those include North Pender Island’s Medicine Beach, 
Lasqueti Island’s highest peak, Mt. Trematon, part of Denman 
Island’s Morrison Marsh, and Gambier Island’s Mt. Artaban. 
We’re hoping to celebrate our 20th anniversary with the 
unveiling of our 20th nature reserve — a jewel of a wetland on 
Bowen Island granted to us under the Province’s Free Crown 
Grant program. 
In the last decade, we’ve brought innovative land 
conservation tools to island landowners, such as British 
Columbia’s first ever tax-incentive covenant program (NAPTEP) 
and inexpensive subdivision options for nature reserve donors 
(Section 99). We’ve also been the champions for some of the 
Islands Trust’s most powerful planning tools for conservation, 
such as the Trust Area Ecosystem Mapping project.
The Islands Trust Fund has grown to become an essential 
link between island communities and the Provincial government, 
protecting cherished community treasures through the Free 
Crown Grant Program and spearheading several provincial 
park acquisitions. We’ve also strived to become vital partners 
to local island conservancies by supporting their work with 
our Opportunity Fund grants, and collaborating on regional 
conservation initiatives.
20 Years of Collaboration for Island Conservation
As the Islands Trust Fund matures with experience, so does 
our approach to land conservation. The scientific basis for our 
work contained in the 2005-2010 Regional Conservation Plan is 
about to be updated for the next five years. In revising the plan, 
we’re including the goals and priorities of the many conservation 
organizations working in the Islands Trust Area. The goal is 
to align our individual conservation efforts, creating a highly 
focused and effective partnership for land conservation in our 
region. 
Two decades ago, those first Trust Fund Board members 
envisioned an organization that would have a positive influence 
on land conservation in the islands. Please work with us as 
we continue to fulfill and renew their original vision: to see 
the islands and waters of the Islands Trust Area serving as a 
sanctuary for all life, where intact ecosystems 

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