- Determine the boundaries of land trust properties and physically mark them to the extent possible or necessary.
- Inspect properties at least once per calendar year for potential management problems and promptly document the outcomes of the inspection.
- Address management problems, including encroachments, trespass and other ownership challenges, in an appropriate and timely manner and document the actions taken:
- For lands that have been certified as an ecological gift, report detected changes or impacts to the natural features of the property to Environment and Climate Change Canada.
Background
A land trust that holds property also takes on a responsibility to the public and has certain legal liabilities for injuries that occur on the land. Thus, at a minimum, a land trust needs to monitor each property to ensure it is not damaged by malicious or negligent acts, that unauthorized uses or encroachments are not detrimentally affecting the property and that people are not endangered by safety hazards and that continuous encroachment or unauthorized use do not cause the land trust to lose the property or parts of it or conservation values altogether.
Such problems usually can be prevented if the land trust marks and maintains its boundaries and regularly monitors its properties. Land donated under the Ecological Gifts Program must be monitored to ensure that the land use of the property is consistent with the original donation. Monitoring documentation for Ecological Gifts should be made available to Environment Canada upon request. (See 11.C)
Monitoring may also be done for other reasons including; tracking the changes on a property, tracking the health of a particular species or its habitat, or tracking the response to a management measure. A land trust that holds property will want to ensure that the values for which the property was acquired are maintained and that any impacts to the property are not negatively affecting those values. It also has the responsibility to ensure that the public assumes no negative experiences.