What is Landowner Stewardship?
As a private landowner, you have intimate knowledge of your land and you play a key role as caretaker of its valuable ecosystems. Landowner stewardship is about caring for your land in a way that preserves its environmental, economic and cultural values, keeping it healthy for today and for the future.
Landowner Stewardship Program
The Landowner Stewardship Program supports landowners, like you, who are interested in preserving the environmental values of their property. Through this voluntary and free program, trained staff work with you to implement long-term stewardship projects that are tailored to your environmental goals. We provide training on how to monitor species, resources, and best management practices that give you the skills and knowledge to protect your land's habitats and the species it supports.
Whether you know your property like the back of your hand or it's a recent purchase and you are learning about it for the first time, this program is for you! The Landowner Stewardship Program will give you the opportunity to learn more about your land, its ecological features, and ways you can protect and steward your property while keeping the wildlife and species who find refuge there in mind.
What's Involved:
- Staff meet with you in person or virtually to learn more about your property and if there are specific goals you'd like to achieve
- A tour of your property for staff to learn about its ecology (when safe to do so)
- Staff develop a stewardship plan that is tailored to your goals and property's needs
- The option to monitor your property through our Citizen Science program, given the training and resources staff provide
- Continuous support and guidance from staff to help you achieve your stewardship goals
We offer guidance on:
- Best management practices for habitat types including forests, wetlands, ponds, and grasslands
- Invasive species identification and removal
- Mapping
- Installation of trail cameras
- Creating and maintaining wildlife habitat
- Citizen Science projects including:
- Salamander and vernal pool monitoring
- Installation of salamander boards
- Reptile and amphibian monitoring
- Installation of snake boards
- Monitoring for Species at Risk
- Plant monitoring
- Opportunities to permanently conserve land
Midland Painted Turtle by T. Rowland
Landowners in the Black River Wildlands
We are currently working to protect corridors of connected wilderness throughout the Black River Wildlands Region. This area has been identified as a high priority zone in our natural heritage acquisition strategy based on Species at Risk occurrences, connection to existing protected areas (with land trusts, Conservation Authorities, parks, etc), waterways, forest cover and more.
If you are landowner located in the Black River Wildlands region (e.g. close to QEIIPP, Kahshe Barrens) we encourage you to participate in this program. Your land is an important puzzle piece in connecting wild places together. By protecting and stewarding your property, you help create these safe bridges for species to move.
Landowner Stewardship Stories
"In our first year in the program, we have actively monitored our property for reptiles, amphibians, Species at Risk and placed eight salamander boards. Since our involvement with the Conservancy, we have become dedicated supporters and volunteers and are undergoing an Easement Agreement where our property will remain protected and wild forever. We hope, by sharing our story, we can spread awareness and encourage other landowners to protect their property through caring stewardship."
"We have big dreams for our property in terms of stewardship. Our vision is to enhance habitat for birds, control and manage invasive species, and implement Citizen Science activities where we can monitor what species are inhabiting our property. This is where the Landowner Stewardship became a perfect fit for us. Throughout our involvement in the program thus far, we have set up trail cameras on our property, are monitoring for Species at Risk, and have installed salamander boards."
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