There’s nothing quite like spending time in
nature in the Kawarthas.
Whether you’re listening to a chorus of Spring Peeper frogs in the evening or you come across a majestic old growth White Pine
during a hike, there’s so much to see and enjoy.
Our health improves with time outside. Some of us work, study, and dedicate our lives to working on the land. The relationships Williams Treaties First Nations have with the land is deep and vast. Caring for nature sustains us all.
Photo: A group photo with members of the New Canadian Centre in Peterborough after a day of tallgrass and wildflower seed gathering at Ballyduff Trails in 2022.
Ballyduff Trails was first protected as a CEA, and, in 2022, 150 acres were donated to KLT. Over the years, Ballyduff Trails has welcomed hikers, nature connection events, stewardship activities, and researchers from Fleming College and Trent University.
Some of our protected lands feature public–access trails that are visited by thousands of visitors each year. Our protected lands are host to public events and stewardship activities.
KLT is also engaged in active listening with the community to help increase equity in land access and enjoyment.
The Kawarthas are rich with scenic natural spaces that were cherished by the generations before us, current generations, and, hopefully, with care and commitment, they will be enjoyed by generations to come.
You have options.
Everyone’s love of the land has an origin. People care about the landscape because they have places to experience it.
Throughout the years, KLT has seen those connections thrive through events and volunteer work on our protected lands.
Your land can be a place where our relationship with the landscape grows. Your land can create a more vibrant and healthy community.
Learn more about KLT’s land connection opportunities below. Have questions? Reach out to us at p[email protected] or 705–745–5599.
Option 1:
KLT Partners in Conservation Coordinator Rachel Barrington and graduate student researcher conducting a salamander survey on a Partners in Conservation program member’s land in April 2023.
Many people with land in the country share their land with their neighbours. Through their networks, they might welcome naturalist or recreation groups on their land, or a researcher may knock on their door seeking access to the section of stream on their land to study fish.
Through Kawartha Land Trust’s (KLT) Partners in Conservation program, KLT aims to build a network of thousands of landowners.
Together, these landowners can create a future landscape where private lands help the community. Where we share the land to grow our sense of pride, learn and live healthy lives.
Have questions about the program?
Reach out to us at [email protected]
or 705-743-5599. We look forward to speaking with you!
Option 2:
Visitors enjoying KLT’s Stony Lake Trails, a trail network that includes public access trails on KLT-protected land and private land through special partnerships.
In addition to the nature trails on some of its protected nature reserves, Kawartha Land Trust (KLT) has worked for over a decade to create and maintain trails on private lands to benefit the community.
KLT addresses the insurance and maintenance needs of trail establishment and ensures the route respects your privacy and the security of your property.
Throughout the years, we’ve heard again and again how much people enjoy KLT’s trails, how great it is to have trails to visit nearby or when they’re visiting the Kawarthas.
Having a place to walk outside and enjoy nature is really important to so many. People often do not realize how much they’ll enjoy having a trail cross their property until it’s there.
KLT’s private land trails are part of broader initiatives in specific parts of the Kawarthas. Our Stony Lake Trails network and burgeoning Burleigh Falls to Lakefield Trail project involve trails on private land.
Have questions about trail agreements with KLT?
Reach out to Thom Unrau at [email protected] or call 705-743-5599.
Option 3:
Indigenous bioblitz field day at KLT’s Dance Nature Sanctuary in the fall of 2022.
The event was led by Gary Pritchard, a Conservation Ecologist & Indigenous Engagement /Placemaking Specialist from Curve Lake First Nation and founder of 4 Directions of Conservation Consulting Services, and attended by KLT staff and volunteers.
The property was donated to KLT in 2006 by Alice Sharpe.
A land donation is an incredible gift to nature, and can also become a place for people. Our landscape needs both wild natural spaces and places for nature connection.
Donating land to KLT can be flexible. You can donate all or part of your land. With special arrangements, you can still enjoy or live on the land after the donation, specifying where or how public us, or use by invitation works.
There are instances where some land offered as donation is not a fit for public use for a number or reasons; this is a decision KLT does not take lightly. Making land accessible to the public requires dedicated and experienced stewardship staff and volunteers, a large stewardship fund, and operating costs.
Financial incentives to donate land exist — there are capital gains and income tax benefits for gifts of land that qualify as “Ecological Gifts” under the Canadian Income Tax Act.
KLT’s Dance Nature Sanctuary in Selwyn was the first property that came under the organization’s protection. The landowner, Alice Sharpe, donated the land to KLT to ensure its permanent protection. Since donation, the land has been host to nature-based day camps, Indigenous bioblitzes that link Settler and Indigenous Perspectives on Conservation, student research projects, trail walks, community events, yoga and nature connection activities, birding workshops, and more.
We look forward to building upon our successes in providing places for people to connect with the land while allowing nature to flourish on the land forever.
If you own natural land that could be used as a recreational asset or place of learning, reach out to us at [email protected] or 705-743-5599. We look forward to speaking with you!
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