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(published
1998)
Habitat Atlas for Wildlife at Risk
Options and Tax Incentives
Conservation Options
This section outlines legal options and
current tax incentives available to private landowners
in British Columbia to preserve habitat on their land.
The information is summarized from "Stewardship
options for private landowners in British Columbia (Penn
1996)".
Stewardship Agreements
Stewardship agreements provide the most flexible option
for conserving land for a variety of uses, such as watershed
protection, wildlife habitat and low-density residential
use. They can be short or long term agreements with
a conservation organization. As a general principle,
stewardship agreements can either be negotiated with
conservation organizations as a type of donation, or
possible for a sum of money. Where there has been some
loss of value in the land by the agreements placed on
the land (i.e. a donation), the landowner is generally
eligible for tax credits.
Short term agreements include management agreements,
leases and licenses. They also include verbal or hand-shake
agreements, which are not legally binding, but bind
the landowner by his/her word to an agreement with a
conservation organization.
Long term agreements include conservation covenants,
restrictive covenants and profits à prendre.
Only conservation covenants will be addressed here.
Conservation Covenants
Conservation covenants are voluntary, written agreements
between a landowner and one, or preferably two, conservation
organizations, in which the owner promises to protect
the land in a specific way (Stewardship Options booklet
provides examples). The landowners benefit by protecting
their land forever, retaining the regular rights of
ownership to live on, enjoy and sell their land.
There are two main conservation options currently available
for landowners.
- Stewardship agreement with a conservation organization:
sharing the responsibility
- retain ownership
- protect portions or all of your land through
the terms of your agreement
- short term or long term agreements
- usually involves an exchange of certain rights
of use, in return for, conserving the land, providing
for management, and, in some cases, providing
some form of compensation.
- Transfer of title by sale or gift: handing over
the responsibility
- lose title, but the option you choose can allow
you to decide who is to protect it, how to protect
it and what kind of tax relief you might seek
- such transfers can also include the right of
the owners to continue to live on the land for
their lifetime.
Using a Conservation Covenant When
Subdividing and Selling
A landowner wished to subdivide his land, yet
preserve the natural features on the subdivided
parcels. The SOS Stewardship Program identified
important habitats and assisted in drawing up
the subdivision plan.
The Nature Trust of British Columbia, a conservation
organization that is registered to hold covenants,
drew up agreements to prevent habitat degradation
on the parcels after sale. These particular agreements
allowed for a member of the organization to visit
the site once a year to monitor the habitat and
make sure that the terms of the agreement were
being met.
The conservation covenants were then filed at
the Land Title Office. The largest parcel, which
has the most important habitats, was donated to
The Nature Trust of British Columbia to ensure
that the area was managed for conservation in
perpetuity. |
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