Land trusts are private, non-governmental charities that permanently conserve land and other natural and cultural resources by acquiring and stewarding land and/or conservation easements.

American Friends of Canadian Conservation is a US land trust that partners with Canadian land trusts, as well government agencies, Indigenous communities and educational institutions whose missions are aligned with ours.

Our partners’ mission areas range in size from national to provincial to individual communities or watersheds. Land trusts and other partners have a deep understanding of their geographic area and community needs, allowing them to identify landscapes and specific parcels that contain critical natural habitat or other conservation values, such as recreational, agricultural, cultural or scenic values.

Land trusts achieve their resource protection objectives through partnerships with landowners, communities affected by potential development of land and water and funders who support permanent conservation of important landscapes. Most commonly, land trusts rely on donations of land and conservation easements. Some have the ability to purchase key properties.

American Friends of Canadian Conservation and its partners are committed to excellence in our conservation work, and to ensuring the permanent protection of land entrusted to us. As part of upholding the public’s trust our organizations have adopted, and operate according to, the Land Trust Standards and Practices. American Friends’ has a rigorous qualification process to determine if a potential partner meets US standards for both tax deductibility and stewardship.