“We work hard to be a good neighbour,” says “Connecting With Nature” partner Steve Rankin of Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline. One of three 2019 lead sponsors, the energy company returns for fourth straight year to support one of the Nature Trust’s signature events.

These days, in the energy sector, you need to be an environmentalist and—Steve Rankin is right—a good neighbour. Few industries rely on the land more, which makes relationships with communities crucial; and few industries have such stringent measures in place for environmental protection.

In the case of Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline, which transports natural gas via pipeline to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and the U.S., the land they use is owned by others and covers thousands of kilometres. That’s a lot of communities, a lot of people to be neighbours with. That’s a lot of relationships.

It’s no surprise that Steve sees the similarities between his company and the Nova Scotia Nature Trust, especially in terms of the importance of relationships.

“Even though we’re an energy company delivering natural gas and the Nature Trust is a conservation organization, we still have a lot in common,” says Steve. “We both value environmental protection and we both place a high importance on long-term relationships when it comes to shared land use.”

It’s true. The Nature Trust is all about relationships, too. Our relationships with the landowners and their families who’ve donated land to the Nature Trust or will in the future. Our relationships with those who make donations to support land conservation. Our relationships with our (indispensable!) volunteers who help us steward so many properties.

Steve sees Connecting with Nature as a reflection of these shared values of conservation and relationships, while also lauding a program “that encourages Nova Scotians to become involved in the natural world that surrounds this beautiful place.”

Steve says environmental stewardship touches everything his company does, from start to finish, as it must.

“From project planning, to construction, to operations,” he says, “environmental stewardship needs to be part of every phase.”

The Nature Trust appreciates being part of a company’s environmental plan, which is what event partnerships may be viewed as. With the popularity of Nature Trust events increasing each year, we’ll continue to look to the business community to help us keep such program costs, for us and for participants, low.

Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline has been a big part of Connecting With Nature’s success since first supporting the series in 2016. Without support from corporate Nova Scotia, it would be a challenge to run a program like Connecting With Nature each year, with its eight outings spread over different parts of the province, all requiring staff time and resources to plan and deploy.

So thank you to Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline, a “Conservation Champion,” as lead partners of Connecting With Nature are known, for helping to make this great program just a bit less challenging!