In 2026, Kawartha Land Trust celebrates its 25th anniversary of conserving and caring for nature in the Kawarthas for future generations.
With the start of the new year, Kawartha Land Trust (KLT), the Kawarthas’ regional, charitable land trust, celebrates 25 years of protecting and caring for natural and working lands for future generations.
Originally named Kawartha Heritage Conservancy (KHC), Kawartha Land Trust was founded in 2001 when a group of concerned citizens came together with the goal of permanently protecting nature and working lands in the Kawarthas.
A quarter of a century later, those first conversations and steps toward conserving nature have grown into a leading regional land trust that has been supported by thousands of volunteers and donors throughout its history.
“KLT is achieving many of the dreams we held when we founded it 25 years ago,” shares Ian Attridge, one of the charity’s founders and its first Executive Director. “We’ve worked with the community and partners to care for a growing network of lands across this distinct landscape.”
Today, Kawartha Land Trust protects over 8,700 acres of land across the Kawarthas. In the past five years, the charity has almost doubled its conserved lands through community, partner, and funder support. In late 2023, the charity protected its largest property to date — the 1,412-acre Hammer Family Nature Preserve in Lakehurst, which is home to wetlands, remnant oak savannah, forests, fields, and natural shoreline along Pigeon Lake.
“The habitat protection results of the conservation land trust community, including Kawartha Land Trust, over the past 25 years have been very gratifying,” shares Barbara Heidenreich, who served as KLT’s first Chair.
KLT is one of 150 local and regional land trusts in Canada — organizations that work with their respective local communities to protect and care for nature, conserve critical habitat, provide nature-based climate solutions, and contribute to national goals of respecting Indigenous rights and conserving 30% of Canada’s land and water by 2030.
It’s a growing sector that has protected 630,000 acres across the country since the first land trust was established in 1919.
“Canadian land trusts play vital roles in protecting nature across the country and combatting the interlinked global crises of climate change and biodiversity loss,” said John Kintare, Executive Director.
“From the Atlantic to the Pacific, communities have come together, as they have here in the Kawarthas, to conserve and care for nature in their own regions, making a monumental impact for the important ecological lands that sustain us and the wildlife we cherish.”
Throughout 2026, KLT will celebrate its 25th anniversary through events, articles, and opportunities to get out on the land, all culminating in a celebration event in November. To stay informed, you can sign up for KLT’s e-newsletter.
We offer our gratitude to everyone who has been part of KLT’s journey in the past 25 years. Thank you!
Do you have a favourite memory, moment, or photo from KLT’s 25 year history? Share it with us at [email protected]. We’d love to hear from you!
Photo: Since its founding in 2001, Kawartha Land Trust (KLT) has protected thousands of acres of natural and working lands for future generations, including Ston(e)y Lake Family Forest, pictured in the background, which was conserved through a volunteer-led community campaign in 2024. (Stephanie Lake)
