20+ Land Covenants Established

The Pender Island Conservancy Association jointly holds 20 Covenants on Pender Island. Putting a conservation covenant on your property creates a permanent sanctuary for the plants and animals you share your land with. When you place a covenant on your land, you agree to use and care for it in ways that protect its valuable natural features. The covenant ensures that the natural features that you value today will continue to be protected into the future, even after you sell or bequeath your land. A covenant binds future owners to the same promises you have made, meaning the landscape you've loved and cared for remains protected in perpetuity.

The Pender Islands Conservancy Association is a registered land trust and a member of the Land Trust Alliance of BC. Land trusts are legally empowered to accept donations of land, or to hold conservation covenants, for permanent ecological protection. Through this process, and in partnership with the Islands Trust Conservancy, the Pender Islands Conservancy Association is now co-covenant holder on 17 North Pender properties. In addition, there is a conservation covenant held jointly by the Conservancy and a private landowner, and one held between the Conservancy and the Capital Regional District, represented locally by the Pender Island Parks and Recreation Commission. 

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The Morrison Waxler Biodiversity Protection Legacy Fund helps property owners cover the cost of placing conservation covenants on their special places.  We are grateful for the generous contribution from the Morrison family who made this fund available to property owners on North and South Pender.  The Morrison Waxler Biodiversity Protection Legacy Fund is administered by the Islands Trust Conservancy. 

Several Pender covenants are under the Islands Trust Natural Areas Tax Exemption Program (NAPTEP), which provides a 65% reduction in property taxes on the covenanted land. Some are also registered under the Federal Ecological Gifts Program, whereby the value of the covenant offers a federal income tax advantage. 

Each year a specialist, usually a professional biologist hired by the Islands Trust Conservancy, comes to Pender Island to inspect the covenants.  A Pender Island Conservancy Association board member or staff person accompanies the inspector.Find out how to establish your own covenant here.