Funding

The HNC and our Head-of-the-Lake Land Trust program rely on volunteers and financial support from individual members and supporters as the primary base of financial support for our programs. Individual donors are recognized in our journal, the Wood Duck, and at special events. For more information on donation options and how you can help protect the natural world click here..

Donations of land or conservation easements by conservation minded landowners are essential to our success in permanently protecting significant natural lands for nature and for future generations. For more information on conservation options for landowners and the tax benefits of donating click here.

We also hold special fundraising events and campaigns and our annual Nature Walk for Our Environment.

Grant support from foundations, government and corporations is essential in allowing the HNC to undertake specific programs and activities. We thank the following organizations for their support of recent and ongoing Head-of-the-Lake Land Trust projects. (Click on sponsor logos for links to their websites.)

The Ontario Trillium Foundation: Head-of-the-Lake Land Trust Capacity Building Grant, December 2005, $117,700 over 44 months. Click here for details.

Hamilton Community Foundation, Protecting Our Environment Together Program: Pleasantview Neighbourhood Stewardship and Outreach, Restoring Natural Areas & Corridors in the Urban Core, and capacity building, December 2004, a total of $33,000 over 3 years. Click here for details.

Hamilton Community Foundation, Edith H. Turner Foundation Fund: Restoring Natural Areas and Corridors in the Urban Core - Land's Inlet Nature Project, December 2005, $12,500 over 2 years.

Hamilton Community Foundation, McCallum, McBride Fund: 2005 & 2007, $8,000 total. Support for Cartwright Nature Sanctuary acquisition, Bruce W. Duncan Memorial Trail bench, and future nature sanctuary acquisitions.

Hamilton Community Foundation, Robert & Marion Shivas Conservation Trust Fund: Support for Cartwright Nature Sanctuary acquisition. 2006, $6,875.

Hamilton Community Foundation, Ray Lowes Environmental Fund: Support for Head-of-the-Lake Land Trust program operations, 2007, $2,950.

Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation: Raising Awareness of Conservation Options among Rural Landowners, 2006, $12,550. Click here for details. Nature Walk for Our Environment Sponsorship 2007 - $5,000.

Walmart-Evergreen Green Grant: Land's Inlet Nature Project. 2007, $10,000. Click here for details.

HIVA Environmental Fund: Volunteer training & capacity building, 2004, $10,000.

Ontario Land Trust Alliance and Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources: Ontario Land Trust Assistance Program Grants towards acquisition related costs for the Cartwright Nature Sanctuary and the Thomas & Mary Young Nature Sanctuary. 2005 and 2006, total $10,650.

TD Friends of the Environment Foundation: Support for the 2007 Nature Walk for Our Environment, $5,500.

Knowles Bequest Board: Cartwright Nature Sanctuary bridge and boardwalks. 2005, $3,000.

Hamilton-Wentworth Stewardship Council: Cartwright Nature Sanctuary bridge and boardwalks. 2005, $2,000.

Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources Community Fisheries and Wildlife Involvement Program: Cartwright Nature Sanctuary bridge. 2005, $1,500.

Head-of-the-Lake Land Trust Receives Greenbelt Grant

The HNC's Head-of-the-Lake Land Trust Program has received a $12,550 grant from the Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation to work to raise awareness of conservation options among rural landowners in the Hamilton-Burlington area.. The grant will also help us let landowners know about how the Head-of-the-Lake Land Trust (HLT) works with landowners and conservation partners to protect, enhance and restore lands for nature and for future generations.

Given the newness of our Land Trust Program and the lack of public awareness regarding the program, one of our greatest needs is raising awareness with the public, especially rural landowners. We want to get people thinking about what our local landscape should look like in 100 years and recognizing the importance of the Greenbelt concept - linking the long-term sustainability of the Greenbelt with individual decisions. We also want to share information about our Land Trust Program and how we work with landowners to help them fulfill their visions for their lands; permanently protecting their part of the Greenbelt, while providing tax benefits and supporting family needs and succession planning.

The grant will allow us to take important first steps in communicating this information by supporting the following initiatives:

1. Develop, print and distribute 6,000 copies of an information brochure that asks the question "What do you want your land to look like in 100 years?" and provides details on Conservation Options for Landowners. The focus would be on Head-of-the-Lake Land Trust Program and how we are available to work with landowners to protect lands for nature within the Greenbelt so that it remains green for future generations. The brochure will provide information on the significant tax benefits available to donors of ecologically significant lands or easements. We hope to distribute the brochure directly to over 4,000 landowners whose land include significant natural areas.
2. Acquire a digital projector and a quality portable display, and develop display materials to support the outreach and awareness program which will include regular public presentations and workshops.
3. Enhance the Head-of-the-Lake Land Trust Program portion of our website to include:
   • background on the importance of developing a long-term sustainable green vision for our local landscape
   • a comprehensive overview of the program
   • Information on Options for Landowners, including an online version of the brochure
   • Project profiles
   • Contact options and links with other organizations active in working to conserve the Greenbelt

HNC Receives Ontario Trillium Foundation Grant for HLT Program Capacity Building

adapted from a February 2006 Wood Duck article

The Ontario Trillium Foundation has provided the HNC with a three year $117,700 grant to develop the capacity of our land trust program. The funding will allow us to significantly increase staffing support for the program, recruit and train volunteers and increase the number of nature sanctuaries and the funds raised for conservation land protection in Hamilton & Halton.

The term "Land Trust" may be new to some readers. Land trusts are conservation organizations, usually non-government charities like HNC, that own land or conservation easement as part of their efforts to protect natural features, heritage areas or in some cases, agricultural lands. The HNC became the first non-government organization in Ontario to act as a land trust, when we acquired our Spooky Hollow Nature Sanctuary in 1961. Since that time we have secured and protected five more nature sanctuary properties, including two in the last 14 months, relying mainly on the club's own volunteers and financial resources.

Participants at the club's January 2001 Think Tank on Habitat preservation told us that the HNC should do more to become an active local land trust. In response, the Sanctuary Land Trust Committee supported by a Land Trust Working Group has made a concerted effort to grow our land trust program and increase our efforts to work with landowners and conservation partners to protect, enhance and restore natural areas, especially in the Hamilton/Burlington area. The fruits of these efforts are now evident:

• Cartwright Nature Sanctuary protected, December 2004.
• Thomas & Mary Young Nature Sanctuary Donation, October 2005
• Restoring Natural Areas and Corridors in the Urban Core Project now funded and underway.
• Volunteers involved in Sanctuary Land Trust Program increased four fold and volunteer hours increased ten fold.
• Increased training and development opportunities for volunteers and more involvement by non-members.

With our increased level of activity it soon became evident that we would required consistent professional support to operate an active Land Trust Program without burning out key volunteers. In 2004 we started working on a proposal to the Ontario Trillium Foundation to develop the capacity of the HNC's Head-of-the-Lake Land Trust Program and work towards making operations sustainable at a much higher level than possible in the past. The Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) did not approve our first application, but encouraged us to apply again and worked with us to improve the proposal. The second application, submitted in June of 2005 was approved late in 2005 with work starting early in 2006. Over the next three years the grant will allow us to:

• Significantly increase the hours available for our Program Coordinator (hired through an open competition in April 2005 with initial funding through the Hamilton Community Foundation's Protecting Our Environment Together Program).
• Recruit volunteers and develop and expand the capacity of our Sanctuary Land Trust Committee and volunteers involved in land stewardship and securement efforts.
• Raise the profile of the Head-of-the-Lake Land Trust Program Program in the community, especially with landowners.
• Preserve several additional nature sanctuaries over the next three years and raise significant funds for land conservation.
• Develop management plans for existing nature sanctuaries
• Provide practical training for volunteers.
• Strengthen partnerships and forge new relationships in the community.
• Work towards long-term sustainability for the program.

We are very grateful to the Ontario Trillium Foundation for their support of this exciting initiative. Many thanks are due to the volunteers who worked on developing the OTF proposal, especially, Greg Mayne, Paul Attack, Jennifer Baker, Elaine Serena and Warren Beacham.

HNC Awarded Valuable Hamilton Community Foundation Grants

by Warren Beacham

In 2004, the Hamilton Community Foundation put forward a fund for community environmental projects. HNC's sanctuary and land trust groups submitted two proposals for projects and these have been accepted for funding over the next three years. We would like to thank the HCF for its generous commitment to the environment, and for enabling us to undertake the following three exciting new projects!

1. Pleasantview Neighbourhood Outreach and Stewardship

Grant amount: $12,500 over 3 years.

Pleasantview Stewardship Overview:

To build on the success of protecting this key sanctuary (the Cartwright Property) by engaging the local community in planning and caring for the lands acquired. We also want to reach out those who own lands in or adjacent to this important ecological corridor to offer them resources and opportunities to enhance the ecological integrity of their properties.

Specific items:

• Establishing a local management committee and stewardship volunteers for the lands to be protected.
• Seeking out interested local residents through open houses, guided walks, and dialogue with interested residents and local faith communities, to develop a core of interested neighbours who would then determine how the local community might best engage in the project (e.g. a neighbourhood association, a "friends of" group, etc.)
• Developing a system of neighbourhood volunteers to play a key role in the management and management planning for the site, including activities such as tree planting, erosion control, trail development, site clean-up, removal of non-native species and ongoing monitoring.
• Engaging local residents in further enhancing the protection of this important ecological corridor through landowner contact and stewardship education activities aimed at private owners of adjacent and nearby lands.

2. Restoring Natural Areas and Corridors in the Urban Core

Grant Amount: $12,500 over three years.

Urban Core Overview:

This project is to work with residents, businesses, schools, youth, and community groups in the urban core of Hamilton to become active in protecting, conserving and restoring natural areas in their neighbourhoods.

Specific items:

• Work with the City of Hamilton and the Hamilton Conservation Authority to identify locations within the urban core where restoration opportunities exist and to identify at least two possible pilot project sites.
• Seek out and meet with neighbourhood groups, businesses, schools, youth groups, churches and interested residents to gauge their interest in participating in such a project and to solicit their input and involvement in the design and implementation of the project. We have applied to the Rotary Club of Hamilton "AM" for additional support to be able to undertake outreach and education programs regarding the project and the importance of natural areas and corridors for students at both the elementary and secondary levels.
• Initiate a naturalization project in the neighbourhood that is best prepared to move forward, with continued planning for future projects and empowerment of other local neighbourhood groups to build upon the model and precedent developed.

3. Capacity Building for HNC Land Trust

Grant Amount: $8,000 over three years.

Capacity Building Overview:

This project is designed to develop our organizational capacity to protect natural areas. It will help build the capacity of the HNC as a land trust through the development of priorities, policies and criteria regarding purchases and donations of land and conservation easements, and support our continued efforts to secure land and easements to protect natural habitat.

Specific items:

• Hiring a part-time professional staff person with expertise in land trust operations, starting in early 2005. This person will facilitate the recruitment, development and training of HNC volunteers and to increase our capacity as a land trust.
• Provide 260 hours of professional staffing support over one year for a part-time program leader. The tasks that HCF funding will support include: volunteer recruitment, coordination and training; development of options for future organizational structures for consideration by the board; dialogue with partner organizations to assist in further defining the role of the HNC in protecting a system of natural areas and linkages in the Hamilton/Burlington area and to explore opportunities for partnership and community involvement; development of a work plan for creating a strategic action plan; and support for volunteer-led fundraising initiatives.

We will be preparing "request for proposals" for these positions very soon and are looking for one or more people to work on these projects. If you require more information on these projects, are interested in applying to do this work or know someone who might be, please contact the sanctuary director.

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