A major transfer of ecologically significant properties from The Land Conservancy — announced in July — has now become official.
Twenty-six properties around B.C., including nine on Vancouver Island and Salt Spring Island, have been transferred to the Nature Conservancy of Canada, said Nature Conservancy spokesman Tom Swann. Included on the list are Kindwood in the Highlands, Lohbrunner Woods in Langford and the Clare Winnett Copeland property at Shawnigan Lake.
The Land Conservancy, which at one point had 51 properties, now has fewer than 10. The organization went into creditor protection in 2013 as it dealt with debt and an array of mortgages.
A court-appointed monitor helped deal with the situation.
Swann said the Nature Conservancy paid $1.5 million, which doesn’t reflect the value of the properties involved.
The Nature Conservancy approached TLC, he said.
“The difficulty in the land-securement business for conservation purposes is your best opportunity to raise money is when you’re trying to secure a property,” he said.
“After you’ve secured it, to try to raise money to pay debt is almost impossible. That’s the difficulty [TLC] got themselves into here.”
The Nature Conservancy worked with the Nature Trust of B.C., TLC and others for more than a year to ensure the conservation status of the holdings would be ensured. The transferred lands include forest, wetlands and grasslands that are home to grizzly bears, salmon and migratory birds.
The finalization of the transfer is “fantastic,” said Briony Penn, chairwoman of the TLC board.
“It means the properties are saved,” she said. “This has been a long time in coming, and all the i’s are dotted and the t’s are crossed.
“It also means that we’ve paid off the secured creditors, and that’s a huge relief.”
The TLC’s debt is now down to $4.35 million from $8 million.
Penn said negotiations are going well for another deal involving the sale of the 77-acre Wildwood ecoforest near Cedar.
