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6.0 Funding Land Securement and Restoration
Achieving the Big Picture vision simply cannot happen without an
investment in securing and restoring key parts of the landscape.
Currently, less than 2% of Carolinian Canada lands are held in protective
ownership. The Big Picture analysis has identified core natural
areas and habitat corridors. While the overwhelming majority of lands
within the region will remain in private ownership, mechanisms to secure
key properties through land purchase or conservation easements are needed.
Ecological restoration projects, even those depending largely on volunteer
labour, are expensive, and long-term funding sources are needed in this
area as well.
A recent Environics International public opinion poll concluded that
Canadians are willing to pay for more parks through additional taxes (Environics,
2001c). 80% of Canadians said they would be willing to add one dollar a
month to their municipal taxes to support natural park spaces in and
around their communities. This public willingness to pay stands in
contrast to government allocations, which have been continuously shrinking
over the past decade.
Expanding the Protected Areas System
The existing protected areas system includes a mosaic of national and
provincial parks, national wildlife areas, conservation authority lands,
land trust properties, municipal lands and conservation easements. In a
few areas, gradual expansion of these areas is underway through land
donation or purchase, or through the donation of conservation easements.
Other forms of protected areas, including marine conservation areas and
conservation reserves could see application within the Carolinian Canada
region in coming years.
These protected areas form one of the essential keystones to achieving
the Big Picture vision, and every opportunity to gradually expand
their extent and connectedness should be seized. Building on the existing
system of protected areas, particularly within the natural core areas
outlined in the Big Picture, will be an important element of
future action.
Land Securement Priorities
The Big Picture analysis could be used to set
priorities for future land securement.
At present, there is no coordinated system of priority-setting for land
acquisition within Carolinian Canada. Ontario Parks, Nature Conservancy of
Canada, conservation authorities, land trusts, and other agencies each set
their own priorities. While the objectives of these agencies differ and
they will always have to make individual decisions about current
priorities, the consensus-based ecoregional approach provided by the Big
Picture should influence land securement priorities and strategies in
future. Increased communication and information sharing among various
organizations about potential acquisitions could be helpful and lead to
better conservation solutions.
St. Williams Forest
St. Williams Forest provides an immediate opportunity for
protected area expansion.
The St. Williams Forest in Norfolk County has well-documented natural
heritage values, and the Ministry of Natural Resources has recently
announced their intention to consider its designation as a provincial
park. This very important step could be complemented by examining the
larger landscape around the St. Williams site to identify linkages and
strategies to protect other significant natural areas in its vicinity.
Public Funding for Land Securement &
Restoration
The Carolinian Canada program began with a commitment of $3.6 million to
help secure 38 key sites, though private land stewardship and some land
purchases. In recent years, however, public sector financing for land
acquisition has almost disappeared. Most new acquisitions for southern
Ontario provincial parks have been arranged through the Ontario Parks
Legacy 2000 partnership between Ontario Parks and the Nature Conservancy
of Canada.
The provincial Natural Areas Protection Program allocated $5 million
annually towards acquiring lands only along the Niagara Escarpment, Rouge
Valley, and Lynde Creek Marsh. This program ends in 2002, and is slated to
be replaced by an Ecological Lands Acquisition Program (ELAP). While
details of this new program are unknown, it will almost certainly provide
less money, spread over a larger number of sites. A special focus on the
Carolinian zone could be proposed as an important theme in the new
program.
Conservation authorities are the largest conservation landowners in the
Carolinian zone. But authorities have had difficulties in maintaining the
previous scale of land securement programs in the late 1980s and beyond.
Matching provincial grants for land acquisition ended completely, except
for the limited geographic area covered by the Natural Areas Protection
Program. Authorities with a large population base have continued land
acquisition programs, often with lower funding levels. Most rural
conservation authorities continue with limited programs of land
acquisition. Conservation foundations set up in parallel to most
authorities often provide the fund-raising behind land securement
projects, but this mechanism also tends to be more successful in urban and
near-urban areas where populations are larger.
In recent years, many of the land securement projects in this part of
Ontario have been undertaken by non-government conservation organizations,
often acting in partnership with government agencies. The Nature
Conservancy of Canada (NCC) has spearheaded such projects as securing
Clear Creek Forest in Elgin County and Middle Island in Lake Erie, and
works formally in a partnership called Legacy 2000 to secure natural lands
of interest to the provincial parks system. NCC is also working in concert
with The U.S. Nature Conservancy on joint strategies to protect the
islands of western Lake Erie. Local land trusts and naturalists' clubs own
significant natural areas, and represent a rapidly growing force in land
conservation.
The federal government has been involved in contributing towards the
acquisition of a few specific sites within Carolinian Canada, such as
wetland acquisition projects through the Eastern Habitat Joint Venture
program. But currently there are no general federal programs to
financially support land securement.
This situation contrasts strikingly with the United States, where the
federal government has a wealth of funding programs for land acquisition
related to drinking water protection, coastlines, endangered species,
forests, and open space. For example, the Forest Legacy program has
conserved over 120,000 acres of forest lands through grants to states for
the purchase of environmentally-sensitive land or conservation easements
(see website http://www.lta.org/public policy/flshort.htm
).
The U.S. federal Land and Water Conservation Fund, which was created in
1965 with revenues from offshore oil and gas production, can allocate up
to $900 million annually (although usually less is actually authorized) to
several federal and state acquisition programs. Proposals for the current
year would expand the use of some of this funding to include landowner
incentives and private land stewardship, and give priority to innovative
projects involving conservation easements, purchases of development
rights, and land exchanges (see website http://www.doi.gov/news/
010409c.html ).
State governments have also been very active in parks and open space
conservation, primarily through bond issues authorized by referenda.
Between 1998 and 2001, voters passed a total of 529 referenda, giving
support to more than $19 billion in open space funding, according to
figures compiled by the Land Trust Alliance and the Trust for Public Land
(see website http://www.lta.org/publicpolicy/landvote2001.htm).
In New York State, the Clean Water State Revolving Fund provides
municipalities and not-for-profit organizations low-interest rate
financing to fund land acquisition projects that protect water quality,
with a goal of preserving one million acres of open space over the next
decade (see website http://www.state.ny.us/
governor/press/year02/jan18_02.htm ). In Florida, the Florida Forever
program receives $105 million annually for land acquisition, conservation
easements, environmental restoration, and public land management (see
website http://www.dep.state.fl.us/lands/carl_ff/ ).
While programs of this scale and vision would be unprecedented
in Canada, there are several mechanisms that could be developed to address
the needs of the Carolinian Canada region.
Special Dedicated Funding Mechanisms
Federal and provincial governments could dedicate selected
revenue sources to future land securement.
In recent years, both the federal and provincial governments have
tended to create special funding mechanisms, either jointly or separately,
to address priority areas. For example, the Great Lakes Sustainability
Fund is a five-year, $30 million federal program, announced in July 2000,
to fund restoration initiatives on behalf of eight federal departments
(see website http://sustainabilityfund.
gc.ca/intro-e.html ).
The Province has allocated funds to assist in implementing its Ontario
Living Legacy program through the Living Legacy Trust Fund, administered
by an arms-length Board of Directors. More recently, the Province has also
established a similar fund to support land acquisition on the Oak Ridges
Moraine, with the intent of attracting financial support from other levels
of government and the private sector as well.
Given that Carolinian Canada is the most threatened ecosystem in both
Ontario and Canada, and that the Big Picture vision provides a
framework for conservation actions, a similar commitment of partnership
funding for land securement would not be an unreasonable expectation.
Ideally, such a funding commitment could be tied to a dedicated funding
source, in a manner similar to the U.S. Land and Water Conservation Fund.
One source which could make sense for Carolinian Canada would be the
allocation of a portion of the Land Transfer Tax proceeds, since this
links the resources available for land conservation to the intensity of
development activities. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of
provincial Crown lands could also be directed towards this program.
Much of the delivery of such a program could come through conservation
authorities, land trusts and similar organizations. In some areas,
particularly the more urbanized parts of Carolinian Canada, municipal
investments in green space could also be a significant factor.
Carolinian Canada Recovery Trust
A charitable Carolinian Canada Recovery Trust could be created to
develop funding resources for restoration projects.
The ability to support small-scale restoration projects that would
contribute to the Big Picture vision would be greatly enhanced by
the creation of a special-purpose body to attract and administer funds. A
charitable organization to be called the Carolinian Recovery Trust has
been proposed, with the intent of coordinating a pool of federal,
provincial, and private funds, with projects funded through the Trust to
provide further matching funds or labour. Projects to be funded could
include habitat enhancement and stewardship agreements with individual or
corporate landowners, recovery plan projects for endangered species, and
various education and communications projects.
Initial federal and provincial funding for the Trust could be derived
from species at risk programs, but over time other sources could also be
explored, such as climate change funding or agricultural programs.
Corporate and private foundation funding could also be encouraged.
The proposed Oak Ridges Moraine Foundation is a model that could also
be used for the Trust if interest was high in a more comprehensive
approach.
Public-Private Partnerships
Partnerships between public agencies and non-profit organizations can draw
on the strengths of both types of organizations. Such partnerships have
become a mainstay of conservation in the 21st century.
Non-government organizations are now deeply involved in land securement
and ecological restoration projects. The Federation of Ontario Naturalists
purchased environmentally significant land on Pelee Island, and is
involved in controlled burns and other techniques to restore alvar
habitats there. The Long Point Basin Land Trust is working to restore
connections among natural woodlands on the Norfolk sand plain. Several
citizen groups have planted thousands of trees within the Rouge, Don, and
Humber watersheds in the Greater Toronto Area, and the Evergreen
Foundation sponsors small-scale restoration projects. Ducks Unlimited
Canada and Wildlife Habitat Canada have sponsored dozens of wetland
restoration projects.
Non-government organizations bring several advantages - enthusiasm, a
growing expertise in restoration techniques, good relations with many
landowners, and an ability to access community and foundation funding
sources that are difficult for governments. With an increasing level of
maturity and coordination, they could improve their ability to attract
funding from individuals, corporations, and private foundations. Public
agencies - conservation authorities, federal and provincial departments,
municipalities - have different strengths to offer. Expertise,
infrastructure, public lands and links with the planning process are among
the strengths of the public sector.
Income Tax Incentives for Donation of Lands
A series of federal budget provisions has resulted in the establishment of
the Ecogifts program, which reduces the income tax payable by donors of
land or conservation easements, and which also reduces the inclusion rate
for any capital gains resulting from ecogifts (Environment Canada, 2001).
Properties within one of the 38 original Carolinian Canada sites are
automatically eligible for this program, as are significant wetlands,
ANSIs, and many other categories of ecological lands. However, a specific
reference to lands within Big Picture core areas or corridors
could be helpful in assuring potential donors that they would qualify for
this tax incentive.
Conservation organizations in the United States have considerably more
flexibility in structuring conservation land deals than in Canada because
they are able to employ "bargain sales," in which the landowner
donates part of the value of a property, and receives payment for the
rest. A change in the federal regulations governing charitable gifts to
allow a similar practice here could be helpful in many situations.
Another potential tax incentive is currently being proposed in the U.S.
as part of President Bush's 2002 Budget - a provision to exclude 50% of a
landowner's capital gain from federal tax if the sale of land or a
conservation easement is to a conservation organization or agency (see
website http://www.lta.org/public policy/taxreduction.htm
). This provision would particularly benefit rural landowners who are
"land rich, cash poor," who could realize some of the value of
their property without incurring a major tax liability. A similar
incentive could be enacted by Canada's federal government, providing an
incentive for landowners who wish to sell their land to give first chance,
and potentially a reduced price, to conservation organizations.
The Province could also participate in assisting conservation land
securement by following the example set by British Columbia to exempt land
transfers to conservation organizations from land transfer tax and land
registration fees. In some jurisdictions such as Spain, conservation
agencies and organizations are given right of first refusal for lands sold
for tax arrears.
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