Letter from the president

John Lounds, president and chief executive officer, NCC (Photo by Mike Ford)

Dear friend,

For most Canadians, the concept of a hectare may seem vague. So, what would it mean if I told you that, based on a recent accounting of the total lands you have helped us conserve since 1962, our total came in at 14 million hectares (35 million acres)? That’s a big number!

And how big is 14 million hectares? If you think of Canada’s geography, it’s about 25 times the size of PEI, or about four times the size of Vancouver Island. Describing those hectares in this way makes our collective efforts to conserve our country’s natural legacy much more understandable, and something in which you, as donors and partners, should take great pride. Thank you.

If you’ve been a supporter of the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) for some time, you may note that this represents a significant boost in our tally of total land conserved. But we didn’t get there overnight.

Every number of years, NCC undertakes a review of how we measure our conservation impact. This time we more fully accounted for the lands we have directly acquired, conserved and currently steward, as well as the broader impact of our work through partnership.

Your support has meant that the past several years have seen an unprecedented increase in the pace of our work, particularly in large landscape-scale projects. This includes our work to help relinquish private rights in lands (such as timber, oil and gas), thereby removing impediments to conservation. In particular, we now count the Birch River Wildland Provincial Park in Alberta (contributing to the world’s largest boreal forest protected area) and the new Tallurutiup Imanga National Marine Conservation Area in Nunavut (Canada’s largest protected area) among major projects that have benefited from our work to remove private resource rights.

And so, I’m sharing with you 14-million reasons to feel good about nature.

Nature makes us all feel good, and in this issue of our magazine, you’ll read about why more doctors than ever before are prescribing time in nature to improve their patients’ well-being. And thanks to your belief in our mission, there are now more places for Canadians to connect with nature and boost their health.

Thank you for your support of our mission,

John Lounds, President

This story first appeared in the fall 2019 issue of the Nature Conservancy of Canada Magazine. Donors who contribute at least $25 or more per year will receive four issues of the magazine. Click here to donate today and start receiving the magazine.