Property guardians help preserve environment

Harold and Dianne Clapp from Smith’s Cove spend most of their volunteer time walking in the woods or paddling around a lake. They’re property guardians with the Nova Scotia Nature Trust and their job is to keep an eye on privately-owned land in their area that has absentee landowners. Property guardians work closely with the Nature Trust to ensure the undeveloped land is protected. They periodically check the boundary lines and work with the landowner to check that their goals are being met for the property. The retired couple both love to spend time in the woods and this volunteer work allows them to help preserve woodlots in Nova Scotia that are not publicly owned. “We keep an eye on the property, make sure nobody is bothering it,” says Harold. “We also watch for anything of interest as far as species of risk. There was one lot with Blanding’s turtles on it and we’ve found ribbon snakes on some of the properties as well.” Despite the fact that they’re giving their time, they’re quick to point out that they feel that they receive benefits from their volunteer work as well. They both enjoy the physical activity of exploring the woodlots by foot and canoe and enjoy the mental stimulation of learning new things about the local environment. “You get to work with some young professional biologists where you can learn a lot about nature in general,” says Harold. “That’s a real privilege to spend some time out in the woods with people who really know what they’re doing.” Diane agrees, and says although their professional background was in forestry management, anyone can be a property guardian. “People shouldn’t feel that they need to have expertise because you learn it through working with the organization,” she says. “I think that knowledge transfer is one of the key components of why we help, as well as being able to see different lots being put aside for environmental purposes and landscape connectivity.” The couple describe their volunteer work with the Nature Trust as a “win-win.” “The Nature Trust is such an amazing organization,” Diane says. “It’s really exciting to be involved with them. We help them, but they help us just as much, being able to learn and have different experiences.” For more information about volunteering as a property guardian with the Nova Scotia Nature Trust, visit www.nsnt.ca