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Conservation Covenants

DCA holds six conservation covenants and related statutory rights-of-way totalling 193.6 hectares (478.4 acres). As covenant holder DCA monitors and, in some cases, as described below, manages these covenant areas.

Covenant Descriptions

Denman Island Chocolate Ltd. Conservation Covenant (2007)

Denman Island Chocolate Ltd. covenant area is 1.7 ha (4.2 acres). The property is the new home of the Denman Island Chocolate factory which occupies a site on the crest of a bluff with rocky outcrops overlooking Baynes Sound and the Beaufort mountain range on Vancouver Island. The covenant area occupies the top of the bluff and approximately 0.6 hectares down the steep slope to the westerly boundary of the property. Among the property owner's intentions in registering this covenant is to demonstrate the compatibility between the operation of a viable commercial enterprise and the preservation of green space, maintenance of natural diversity and ecological balance. The conservation covenant honours the owner's late wife, Ruth Terry, who was an ardent supporter of the Denman Conservancy Association.

Special features of the covenant area include the rare and endangered (red-listed) Douglas fir/arbutus association along the ridge and the blue-listed Coastal Wood Fern.

The covenant document itself contains a number of notable clauses. The property has the potential for a spectacular view, but the owner has chosen to prevent the establishment of a panoramic (unbroken or unimpeded) view of the horizon by means of clear-cut tree removal. In contrast to site preparation methods that remove all trees prior to construction, in this case, upon completion of the factory, the owner assessed the viewscape from the building to determine which trees might be selectively removed and submitted a cutting plan to DCA for approval. The covenant prevents tree topping though limbing and pruning may occur under certain conditions. All living portions of arbutus, dogwood or Garry oak trees must be left undisturbed and as much as is reasonably possible, the owner must retain dead standing trees so as to provide high value wildlife habitat. The penalty clause for violating the terms of the covenant is also unique and has significant deterrent value. The penalty is a sum equal to 25% of the fair market value of the bare land for each violation of the covenant in a calendar year.

The covenant does not provide a right of public access to the covenant area.

Morrison Marsh Nature Reserve (2006)

The Morrison Marsh Nature Reserve covenant area is 51.7 hectares (127.75 acres). Located on the northern boundary of Boyle Point Provincial Park at Denman's south end, the reserve is owned by the Island Trust Fund. DCA is both the covenant holder and manager of the reserve. The reserve was established as the result of a Section 99 (Land Title Act) subdivision by which the owner was able to subdivide an otherwise unsubdividible parcel on the condition of a donation of part of the parcel for conservation purposes.

The covenant area contains a complex of natural ecosystems including the southern 28% of Denman's largest marsh, Morrison Marsh, terrestrial herbaceous rock outcrops, creek and marsh riparian ecosystems and a large section of young Douglas-fir salal forest. The reserve serves as an important corridor between other significant ecosystems. The shallow water and fen sections of Morrison Marsh wetland provide wetland ecosystem habitat that is rare in this Bio-geoclimatic zone. Two blue-listed species have been identified on the reserve -- the Red-legged Frog and Great Blue Heron. In addition, two listed plant communities that are expected to develop from species currently in the sites are the red-listed Trembling aspen / Pacific crab apple / Slough sedge community and the blue-listed Red alder / Skunk cabbage community.

The intent of the covenant is:

1. "to protect, preserve, conserve, maintain, enhance or restore the Land and its Amenities in a natural state; and
2. to prevent any occupation or use of the Land that will impair or interfere with the natural state of the Land and the Amenities."

The covenant provides for the preparation of a Management Plan to guide in the stewardship of the reserve, the initial plan having been completed in 2007. Among management provisions is to continue to accommodate public access confined to low-impact pedestrian use which is restricted to designated trails only.

Railway Grade Marsh Complex Conservation Covenant (2006)

Sphagnum bog area of Railway Grade Marsh
photo by John Millen.

The Railway Grade Marsh Complex covenant area is 31.5 hectares (77.8 acres). The covenant area is located on the north end of Denman Island within a multi-parcel property owned by a numbered British Columbia company. The covenant was granted to the DCA as part of the settlement of a legal suit brought against the area's former owner 4064 Investments Ltd. who logged 80% of the intended covenant area in 2000. Though the logging significantly impacted the covenant area, the wetland complexes appear to be functional and still support a diverse community of flora and fauna. In particular, the use of the open water areas by waterfowl is significant.

The covenant area is made up of three marshes and a connecting creek system that exhibit 3 major vegetation types representative of open water, marsh edge and some stands of forest. Notably, at the upstream (southern end) of the system is a sphagnum bog with a patch of ombriotrophic sphagnum, which is unique to Denman Island. Two rare ecosystems have been identified in the covenant area - the red-listed shorepine/peat-mosses and small pockets of the blue-listed common cattail Marsh.

The covenant area has a rich history of logging dating back to the early 1900s including a logging railway that paralleled the marsh system giving the area its name. Prior to the recent logging, hikers to this area saw mossy mounds across the trail in the pattern of the old railway ties dating from the 1920s and 30s.

The management of the area will be governed by the intent of the covenant which is:

1. "to protect, preserve, conserve, and maintain, enhance or restore the Covenant Area, and the Amenities, in a Natural State…
2. to prevent any occupation or use of the Covenant Area that will impair to interfere with the Natural State of the Covenant Area or the Amenities…
3. to provide, at the Covenant Holder's sole discretion, limited public access… to portions of the Covenant Area."

The covenant provides for the creation of a Management Plan at the discretion of DCA.

Some public access is currently available to the covenant area, along the alignment of the old logging railway grade. It is envisioned that the Management Plan will give guidance to any trail improvement as well as any restoration activities, if warranted in areas that have not recovered from the recent logging. Public access is at the sole discretion of the covenant holder and is subject to DCA's regulation as to time, place and amount of access as required for safety purposes or the protection of wildlife. It is noted that an existing gravel road crosses the covenant area in proximity to the sphagnum moss marsh. The covenant provides for the extinguishment of any vehicle use of this road in 2011 and the renaturalization of the road.

Komas Bluffs Conservation Covenant (2006)

photo by Andrew Fyson.

The Komas Bluffs covenant area is 41 hectares (101.3 acres). The covenant area is located on the north end of Denman Island within a multi-parcel property owned by two British Columbia companies. The covenant was granted to the DCA as part of the settlement of a legal suit brought against the area's former owner 4064 Investments Ltd.

According to Taara Environmental who undertook the Baseline Study of the covenant area, "The ecological significance of the covenant area cannot be overstated." It is a mix of ecologically sensitive features - rock and sediment coastal cliffs, increasingly rare old vet trees and older second growth; snags and fallen trees for seasonal or periodic wildlife habitat; one blue-listed species - the Red-legged Frog, and several red listed ecosystems -- Douglas fir/dull Oregon-grape plant association, and a small Douglas-fir/arbutus ecosystem. Though the covenant area does not contain any water bodies, its Quadra Sands contain what hydrologists speculate is the largest groundwater aquifer on Denman Island. As well, the Bluff ecosystem is an important component of the diverse and highly productive inter-tidal and sub-tidal region of the Strait of Georgia in that vicinity.

The terms of the Komas Bluff covenant are complex as they anticipate residential use in the area and attempt to mediate the interface between such use and protection of the covenant area's natural amenities. For example, in very strictly defined circumstances, the covenant does allow for alterations to the covenant area, for example, to create sight lines (not a panoramic view) towards the horizon for a residence, one accessory building and 1 viewpoint. Such alterations can only be made with the approval of the covenant holder, and its review of such proposal will include numerous environmental factors over and above any factors the Islands Trust might employ to issue a permit for alterations to this area, the covenant area being entirely contained within an Islands Trust Development Permit Area. Because of the anticipated residential use of the area, "No right of access by the general public to any portion of the Land is conveyed or granted by [the] Agreement."

Lindsay Dickson Nature Reserve (2008)

photo by John Millen.

The Lindsay-Dickson Nature Reserve Conservation Covenants, held by the Denman Conservancy Association (DCA), were registered on title in October 2008, completing a 17-year effort to ensure protection of the area in perpetuity. The 52-hectare Reserve is comprised of two legal parcels, each with its own covenant.  The intent of the covenants is:

1. "to protect, preserve, conserve, maintain, enhance or restore the Land and the Amenities, in a natural state; and
2. to prevent any occupation or use of the Land that will impair or interfere with the natural state of the Land or the Amenities."

Although the intent is the same for each covenant, there is a distinct provision on agricultural use in the covenant on one of the parcels. Registration of the covenants required the approval of the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC).  One of the parcels is entirely in the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) Nevertheless the ALC, recognizing its important ecological features such as large Douglas fir first growth trees, agreed that strict conservation provisions could apply preventing any alteration of the land by agricultural use.  However, on the other parcel, the ALC did not want to preclude agricultural use should it be warranted in the future and thus, the following provision applies: "Notwithstanding any other provisions in this Agreement, nothing in this Agreement prohibits the use of any portion of the Land that is within the Agricultural Land Reserve under the Agricultural Land Commission Act for farm purposes under that Act."  DCA is both the Reserve Covenant Holder and Manager, and with the Reserve's owner, the Islands Trust Fund Board, does not anticipate farm use in the foreseeable future.

Danes Creek North Conservation Covenant at The Point (2010)

The covenant area is a wetland complex, consisting primarily of regenerating forested swamp, with a distinct Labrador tea (Ledum groenlandicum) bog complex in the north portion. Cattail marsh pockets are widespread and beavers have created flooded impoundments and are actively altering the habitat. Numerous creek channels flow through the area, both in and under forested stands, as well as in the open.

Below are listed seven species at risk that were found in the covenant area. This list includes a federally endangered butterfly species that is endemic to Denman Island, or found nowhere else in Canada. Adult butterflies were seen along the existing road in May 2009, and this wetland complex has small sites of potential breeding habitat for this species. These breeding sites may remain un-forested and available to this butterfly.
Species at risk found at Danes Creek:
-Band-tailed Pigeon (Patagioenas fasciata)
-Common Nighthawk (Chordeiles minor)
-Common Wood Nymph (Cercyonis pegala)
-Olive-sided Flycatcher (Contopus borealis)
-Red-legged Frog (Rana aurora)
-Taylor’s Checkerspot (Euphydryas editha taylori)
-Western Pondhawk (Erythemis collocate)

The dominant site association of the Covenant area, when canopy trees have rejuvenated, is likely to be the swamp wetland, Western red cedar-Western Hemlock-Skunk cabbage (Thuja plicata-Tsuga heterophylla-Lysichiton americanus).

Given that the vulnerable swamp wetland character of the area does not lend itself to trail development, there is no public access afforded by this covenant, though Denman Conservancy has the right to monitor and conduct scientific studies.

Other covenants on lands owned or managed by DCA:

Winter Wren Wood has a conservation covenant on it held by Islands Trust Fund.