Conservation Superheroes

Meet the Conservation Superheros at the Islands Trust Conservancy; people just like us who care deeply about the environment around them and are participating in the act of conservation. Interested in being a superhero? Donations can be made to Islands Trust Conservancy here.

A Heartfelt Gift

Donations like William’s are such an inspiration!

Large or small, these gifts help to ensure that future children will be able to experience the same joy of losing themselves in the wonders of the outdoors.

Young boy standing infront of boulders on the seashore with dry grass in the foreground

We’d Best Act Now

The Lisa Baile Nature Reserve expands an existing 9 ha grouping of conserved lands on North Pender Island, increasing this network of protected places in the Salish Sea to nearly 13 ha with shared borders that will provide habitat for regional species in perpetuity.

Lisa Baile donated this land on February 25, 2021 making the Lisa Baile Nature Reserve Islands Trust Conservancy’s 31st nature reserve. See full story here.

She made this nature reserve possible through her generous gift of mature Coastal Douglas-fir forest – a donation that Baile had intended from the moment she purchased the 4 ha undeveloped property in 2019.

Lisa Baile in front of an old-growth tree on the land she protected with a conservation covenant

“Our lives depend on the lives of flora and fauna, so we’d best act now,” said Lisa Baile, medical researcher, author, long-time Pender Island resident, and B.C. mountaineer. “I’ve been mountaineering, kayaking. There’s such a loss of biodiversity. There’s a lot of logging still going on, subdividing. The Island is still being fragmented.”

Lisa Baile is a one-woman crusader, making a difference one protected piece of land at a time. Her important work continues, and we look forward to share her next conservation accomplishment.

Your Life, Your Legacy

“There is no better legacy for John’s life lived gently on the land than a row of exuberant autumn crocuses leading to the site where his house once stood, in the heart of the new John Osland Nature Reserve on Lasqueti Island” – Donald Gordon, friend.

During John Osland’s 62 years on his Lasqueti property, he cared deeply for the nature around him and all it provided him with.

John Osland, Lasqueti Island-Nature-Reserve_

Despite the heavy logging on the island in his early years on Lasqueti, John’s ancient trees remained. He got immense pleasure from walking among the big firs.

In his later years, he began to worry about the future of his beloved trees, the land and the animals he shared it with. With the help of his friends and a lawyer, John made a plan for his property for when he was gone. He bequeathed the land in his will to the Islands Trust Conservancy, specifying that the land be protected as a nature reserve after he passed away. He hoped people who visited would enjoy the delights of nature and care for the land with as much love as he did.

Islands Trust Conservancy is honoured with the trust John had bestowed on us. The John Osland Nature Reserve is a legacy that truly represents John’s vision for future generations. He will be forever remembered for this legacy.

Learn more about creating your legacy through a gift of land.

Ruby Alton Nature Reserve

Ruby Alton will be forever remembered for having bequeathed her forest, gardens and shoreline as a nature reserve. The Ruby Alton Nature Reserve is a tribute to the passion that Ruby felt about her home.

Born and raised on Salt Spring Island, Ruby Alton had a deep understanding of the ways of the sea, the shore, her gardens and forest.

an old sepia photograph with a smiling young woman in a brown sweater holding black and white lambs

She had watched in sadness as farmland and forests were wiped out for fancy houses and asphalt. Because she cared so deeply, Ruby bequeathed her property and a cash endowment to Islands Trust Conservancy.

A bequest is a gift to an organization made in a donor’s will. Such gifts can take many forms, including gifts of money, land, securities or personal property.

Learn more about creating your legacy through a gift in your Will.