Protect your property
You have a lot, a wooded farm or a picturesque site in the watershed of the Rivière au Salmon and you derive great satisfaction from it! When you take the time to circulate on your property, you admire its mature trees, you climb rocky escarpments, you lie at the edge of your lake or you observe the life which animates your small marsh or your brook! In spring, you have the pleasure of seeing the spring flowers embellish your undergrowth and hear the birds sing!
But questions come to mind: "What will happen to my property in the next few years? Will my children have the same interests as me and will they have the means to maintain them? And if I sell my land, will the future owners have the same conservation objectives as mine? " There are various measures that you can take advantage of as an owner in order to keep your property in its current state while continuing to exercise certain activities (forestry, hunting, fishing, etc.). Certain measures may be accompanied by financial and tax advantages that meet the needs of your family and correspond to your financial situation. Thus, to achieve your conservation objectives, you will choose what suits you best while respecting the Society's conservation objectives. This is what we call "voluntary retention".
What is voluntary retention?
“Voluntary conservation” is an approach that requires the voluntary participation of owners in order to protect the natural attractions of their property. It will ensure the conservation of the exceptional natural heritage of the Salmon River watershed. This flexible approach takes into account your interests and needs while respecting the organization's conservation objectives.
Conservation options
Different agreements are available to you. The choice you make will have to take into account the natural attractions and characteristics of your property, your conservation objectives, your financial situation as well as your needs and those of your family. We present the main conservation options in order to let you know their conservation mechanism and their possible impacts.
The conservation easement
What is a conservation easement? It is a legal agreement by which you assign specific rights to a conservation organization to ensure the protection of the natural attractions of your property. You remain the sole owner while agreeing to restrict certain activities that could cause harm to the natural environments of your property. It can include cutting trees, draining your marsh, building homes or cultivating the soil. The conservation easement can apply only to a portion of the property and target natural environments, such as a marsh, a mature forest, a riverside, a habitat for rare fauna or flora, threatened or in danger.
This choice allows you to continue certain activities on part of your property while protecting the portion targeted by the conservation. This agreement allows you to define a management method for your property. It indicates the responsibilities of the two parties as well as the permitted and restricted uses. All these conditions take into consideration the use you make of your property as well as your personal and family needs. The conservation organization to which you have transferred certain rights will assume the responsibility of enforcing the agreement. She will monitor with an annual visit to your property.
Sale of property
Another tool you can consider is selling your property to a conservation organization. The conservation organization may be interested in acquiring your property to protect its exceptional natural attractions. Selling at fair market value is a valid option, but it is important that the conservation organization has the funds required for the acquisition.
Being non-profit organizations, the conservation organization is very often limited in its financial means. This is why, it can offer you other alternatives, such as the purchase option, the sale by stages, the sale at a discount, etc. All of these options have benefits that you will need to discuss with the conservation organization in order to choose the one that works best for you.
The management, development or enhancement agreement
The management, development or enhancement agreement is an agreement by which the conservation organization and the owner agree to work together to manage, develop and enhance the natural attractions of the property.
It can be the subject of a contract between the conservation organization and the owner in which will be specified what each will have to do in order to contribute to the maintenance or the improvement of the natural attractions of the property. This agreement, based on personal obligations, is temporary and valid for a specified period.
The lease or rental contract
The lease is a contract by which an owner rents his land to a conservation organization for a fixed or indefinite period. The rental of your property by a conservation organization offers you an additional guarantee as to the protection of its natural attractions.
The lease is an interesting tool for ensuring the conservation of a natural environment while allowing the exploitation of wildlife resources, such as fishing, hunting or trapping. It can also allow specific wildlife improvements or allow the conservation organization access to a particular site in order to conduct experiments, studies or recreational or educational activities.
The conservation approach
You have just made the decision to partner with the conservation society to begin the process leading to a legal conservation agreement. We are very happy to welcome you and we present the main stages of our approach! We have defined a scientific approach that we apply to all the properties of the Rivière au Salmon watershed. Our field team is made up of a group of experts including biologists, botanists and forest technicians. This approach involves several stages. First, the company mandates its team of experts to carry out inventories on your property. This approach makes it possible to identify the fauna, flora and forest stands that are present there. It also makes it possible to target sectors of high ecological value and to identify, where appropriate, fauna and flora species with precarious status.
The main steps preceding the completion of a conservation agreement are as follows:
Physical description of the property Mapping of the lot (s);
Wildlife, plant and forest inventories;
Identification of the particular attractions of the property;
Identification of rare, threatened or vulnerable species;
Identification of property uses ;
Identification of pressures exerted on natural environments, and;
Development of the conservation plan
These steps require several visits to your property as well as the collection of data from various authorities. They may request to get in touch with specialists such as appraisers, lawyers, notaries, tax specialists or spatial planning specialists. Much of these costs are borne by the conservation organization. The conservation plan drawn up by the SCCNRS describes your property physically and biologically. He also presents the elements that determine its ecological value and makes recommendations to you on the optimal way to protect your natural attractions and manage your property from a conservation perspective.