Who is OLTA?
Supporting Ontario’s
Land Trusts
Ontario Land Trust Alliance is committed to preserving and sustainably managing natural and cultural landscapes, we work hand-in-hand with local land trusts and communities. Together, we conserve biodiversity, promote responsible land use, and create a harmonious balance between human activities and the environment. Join OLTA in securing our natural heritage and fostering environmental stewardship for a healthier, more sustainable planet.
Programs
We offer 15+ unique programs to Ontario land trusts to help them achieve their missions.
Funding
Learn about the grant opportunities that OLTA administers to support land trusts.
Resources
Access the documents, information, media and helpful content.
Members & Associates
Total Acres Conserved
Species-at-Risk Supported
2M
People Engaged
Save the Land you Love
Annual Reports
Our Membership Has Benefits
Elevate your impact!
Are you an existing land trust?
Joining OLTA gives your land trust access to a dynamic community. Access resources, collaborate with like-minded trusts, and empower your mission.
Start your conservation journey
Looking to start a land trust?
Join us to tap into invaluable resources, expert guidance, and a supportive network. Access the Land Trust Starter Kit, a complete resource that guides you through the process of starting a new land trust.
Why do Land Trusts Matter?
A land trust is a non-profit organization committed to conserving and caring for natural lands
for the benefit of communities and the environment.
Protecting
Biodiversity
Climate
Resilience
Farmland
Conservation
Equitable Access
to Land
Clean Water
Land Stewardship
Community
Connections
Indigenous Land Trusts
Indigenous Peoples have inhabited, cared for and used these lands and waters, applying original instructions, Indigenous knowledge systems and laws, in relationships of mutual care. It was understood that lands and waters could not be bought, sold, or owned. Yet, since colonization, ideas of ownership and resource exploitation have shaped our relationships with the land and each other. And they have also shaped the history of land trusts.
Now, as a community, we are learning how land trusts can be part of reconciliation, how land trusts can offer ways for Indigenous peoples to reconnect with land as teacher and as provider. We are learning how our work to restore and care for lands can be shaped by Indigenous knowledge systems and traditional practices, and are adapting these into our conservation work. We are looking at other ways that land trusts can help respond to inequities built into our systems, by working with intentionality to increase access to nature for people who have historically not had this privilege. This essential work is ongoing and is really just beginning!
Land trusts play a crucial role in combating climate change
By conserving forests, wetlands, and other vital ecosystems, land trusts maintain biodiversity, support clean air and water, and enhance resilience to climate impacts. These protected areas store carbon, provide habitat for wildlife, and offer natural defenses against extreme weather, making land trusts essential partners in global climate action efforts.
What’s Going On?
Our Events
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What’s New?
News & Updates
Rethinking Relationships: From Invasive Species to Two-Eyed Seeing
On a recent walk as part of our work on engaging communities with nature, we came across a patch of dog strangling vine. Our walk guide, Turtle Protectors’ co-founder Carolynne Crawley, explained that many Indigenous people avoid the word “invasive”, preferring...
The Escarpment Biosphere Conservancy Announces the Protection of Key Wetland Habitat in Bruce County
GREENOCK TOWNSHIP, ONTARIO — The Escarpment Biosphere Conservancy is proud to announce the protection of 100 acres of ecologically significant land west of Cargill in southern Bruce County. Protection of the land earlier in the year, known as the Greenock Swamp Nature...
Thunder Bay Field Naturalists Celebrate Major Addition to Caldwell Lake Nature Reserve
November 10 Thunder Bay Field Naturalists Club (TBFN) is celebrating! After more than 30 years of trying to buy this important conservation property at Caldwell Lake, the local nature club has finally succeeded.The purchase, completed on November 6, adds more than...
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Ontario Land Trust Alliance acknowledges and is grateful to Indigenous Peoples as the original stewards of the land. For many thousands of years, Indigenous Peoples have inhabited, cared for and used these lands and waters, applying original instructions, Indigenous knowledge systems and laws. Ontario Land Trust Alliance also acknowledges those Indigenous Peoples, and other peoples who currently live, work, play and learn on the lands around us.
We believe that, as a community, we need to learn about, engage and uphold our role within treaties, settler’s responsibilities, and natural law in order to honour our ongoing commitment to meaningful reconciliation with all Indigenous Peoples on whose treaty and ancestral territories we live and work. We are mindful of broken covenants and the need to reconcile with all our relations.