These rules focus on the needs of developers, not on the needs of conservationists

Written by Karen Auzins, Conservationist and LCF Fundholder

The devastating effects of climate change and global warming are all around us. Fires, droughts, deadly extreme temperatures, and mass extinctions are some of the ways our planet is telling us there is something terribly wrong. Our young people are telling us through demonstrations around the world and, unfortunately in some cases, losing hope entirely by resorting to drugs and suicide.

We know this biosphere on which our own lives depend is in big trouble. Our planet is very sick!

The rule of thumb for a healthy planet that will provide a healthy environment for all living things is that 50% of the planet, both land and sea should be left to the “wild” spaces. With human populations growing exponentially there is a great challenge to find ways to be able to accomplish the 50% goal.

There is a worldwide initiative for governments to designate 30% of Earth’s land and ocean area as protected areas by 2030. Governments cannot accomplish this alone and neither can individuals. We all need to work together to make it happen.  

 My husband and I wanted to do our part by ensuring the 51 acres of environmentally significant land that we owned along the Dingman Creek Corridor would be protected against development and thus be included in the 30% for Canada. True, this is a very small contribution but as my mother used to say, “Look after the pennies and the dollars will look after themselves.”

On September 17, 2022, the creation of the Auzins Nature Sanctuary was celebrated. Now, these 51 acres are protected in perpetuity under the umbrella of Thames Talbot Land Trust (TTLT). This sanctuary now gives all the life forms that live on these 51 acres a home where they can feel safe and live their lives undisturbed by humans.

We started the process to create this sanctuary in 2017. It took five years to achieve this goal! When we started we were so optimistic and eager to make it all happen. However, there were so many roadblocks put in our way, many times we threw up our hands and wondered why we were doing this so that when the struggle was over it made the process anticlimactic. At the Sept 17th celebration, I was very content that finally the goal of preserving this special land was assured, but the joy I should have felt was gone! It was like waking up from a bad dream and being happy to know everything is okay but not happy that you had that dream.

The biggest stumbling block was that this environmentally significant area existed at the back of our 120-acre farm. We had to apply to sever these acres so that TTLT could take ownership of the woods and wetlands and leave us with the farm areas.  

The rules that the planners who deal with these applications must follow are set by Provincial rules. These rules focus on the needs of developers, not on the needs of conservationists.  Developers want to sever off pieces of land to build on. Conservationists want to preserve the land in its natural state, not develop it.

Many of the planners and people involved with our application had never encountered such an application; had never heard of a land trust and had no procedures in place to deal with our request to provide long-term protection of environmentally significant lands.

Despite the lack of procedures, the planners worked with us so eventually the severances we requested happened.  

These lands are part of a significant section of the Dingman Creek Corridor – a wildlife corridor that allows animals to move and plants to disperse to habitats where they can reproduce, feed, and find shelter — in short, meet their vital needs.  
Most of the lands encompassing the Dingman Creek Corridor are environmentally significant, and like most lands in Southern Ontario, these corridor lands are privately owned. To encourage land owners to participate in the 30% by 2030 by making their lands available to Land Trusts, changes need to be made to the application process. There has to be a better and quicker way to allow environmentally significant lands to be protected through the planning process.

We all love to hug our mothers because they gave us life. We should also love to hug trees because they give us breath.