Nova Scotia Nature Trust | Nova Scotians Protecting Nova Scotia

History

The Nature Trust relies on volunteers. The Nova Scotia Nature Trust was formed in the early 1990s by a group of concerned citizens who recognized that the ecological character and integrity of our province was being threatened by development and resource extraction pressures. At the time, there were initiatives already under way at the Ecology Action Centre in Halifax to protect ecologically significant areas on crown land, but with over three quarters of the province privately owned, another approach was also needed. By 1994 the Land Trust movement in the United States was reaching a stage of maturity and was enjoying many successes. As well, Land and Heritage Trusts were beginning to appear in every province of Canada. Nova Scotia needed its own Land Trust; a way for private citizens to formally protect the land that was so important to them, and so in 1994 The Nova Scotia Nature Trust was formed and registered with the province as a charitable organization.