The Escarpment Biosphere Conservancy (EBC) is an environmental NGO, a registered environmental charity, and a qualified recipient to receive ecological gifts through the eco-gifts program of Environment and Climate Change Canada (

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

). It is the largest Ontario-focused

land trust Land trusts are nonprofit organizations which own and manage land, and sometimes waters. There are three common types of land trust, distinguished from one another by the ways in which they are legally structured and by the purposes for which th ...

, with over 190 nature reserves as of January 2021.

History

In 1997, EBC's founding directors left the Bruce Trail Association to start a new organization, focused on the acquisition of new nature reserves in Ontario. EBC's main mission is to establish, maintain and manage a system of nature reserves in the area of the Niagara Escarpment. Its signature reserve is the Cup and Saucer Trail on Manitoulin Island, acquired by EBC in 2000. EBC is a member of the Ontario Land Trust Alliance. EBC's conservation efforts help Canada meet its obligations under the 2015

Convention on Biological Diversity The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), known informally as the Biodiversity Convention, is a multilateral treaty. The Convention has three main goals: the conservation of biological diversity (or biodiversity); the sustainable use of its ...

. Its forest and peat bog preserves also sequester carbon, recognized as an important tool to limit warming due to climate change.

Recognition

In 2011, EBC was recognized by the

North American Native Plant Society The North American Native Plant Society (NANPS) is a volunteer-operated registered charitable organization concerned with conserving native plants in wild areas and restoring indigenous flora to developed areas. It is noted for its work in educati ...

, with the Founders Conservation Award, for creating 102 nature reserves.

Projects

In 2019, EBC purchased a parcel of land, known as "Willisville Mountain" near Sudbury. In 2021, EBC acquired the Trout's Hollow as a nature reserve (near

Meaford, Ontario Meaford is a municipality in Grey County, Ontario, Canada. Meaford is located on Nottawasaga Bay, a sub-basin of Georgian Bay and Owen Sound Bay, in the traditional territory of the Saugeen Ojibway Nation in southern Ontario. The municipality's ...

), where

John Muir John Muir ( ; April 21, 1838December 24, 1914), also known as "John of the Mountains" and "Father of the National Parks", was an influential Scottish-American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologist, a ...

lived, worked, and explored nature during his time in Ontario between 1864 and 1866. In 2021, EBC conditionally offered to purchase nearly in the La Cloche Hills.

References

{{Reflist Environmental organizations based in Ontario Organizations based in Toronto