Dance Nature Sanctuary
In May 2006, Mrs. Alice Sharpe donated her 100-acre property to the Conservancy. Between Young’s Point and Lakefield, the Dance Nature Sanctuary encompasses parts of a provincially significant wetland and a provincially significant Earth Science Area of Natural and Scientific Interest. It is home to a provincially threatened bird species, a rare plant in the County of Peterborough, creeks, forests, old fields and other diverse habitats. Future plans for property include research and educational activities. Mrs. Sharpe and her husband Charles have retained the right to live on the property for as long as they wish.
Eastern Syndicate Island
Norman Cowan ensured ongoing conservation of the largest undeveloped island left in Stoney Lake by donating a conservation agreement on his property to the Conservancy in 2005. Eastern Syndicate Island, located in the Boschink Narrows, functions as an important habitat stepping stone for wildlife moving between the lake’s granite north shore and its limestone south shore.
The Land Between
In 2005, the Kawartha Heritage Conservancy and our neighbouring land trust, the Couchiching Conservancy, along with Peter Alley, a Professor of Business at the University of Toronto and a passionate conservationist, created The Land Between Collaborative. The organization's aim is to further enhance understanding and increase conservation of this rich ecological region between the Canadian Shield to the north and the St Lawrence Lowlands to the south. For more information about The Land Between, which stretches from Georgian Bay to Kingston, please see our Programs page.
Windy Ridge Conservation Area
The Conservancy worked with Rob Tuckerman, the Ontario Heritage Trust and Kawartha Conservation to facilitate a partial donation, partial sale of Mr. Tuckerman's 122 acre forested and wetland property at the confluence of the Pigeon River and Fleetwood Creek, southwest of Omemee. The property was transferred in early 2005 to the Ontario Heritage Foundation, and added to Kawartha Conservation’s Windy Ridge Conservation Area for joint management.
Gamiing Centre for Sustainable Lakeshore Living
Mieke Schipper donated a conservation agreement on her 100-acre property south of Bobcaygeon to the Conservancy in 2002. The property is the home of the Gamiing Centre for Sustainable Lakeshore Living and includes 30 acres of provincially significant wetland on Pigeon Lake and 65 acres of managed forest.
Altberg Nature Reserve
The Kawartha Field Naturalists and the Federation of Ontario Naturalists, now Ontario Nature, purchased a 456-acre property north of Four Mile Lake with facilitation and legal support from the Conservancy in 2000. This property was added to Ontario Nature’s Altberg Nature Reserve, now their largest nature reserve in the province. The reserve is complemented by the adjacent Sommerville Tract of City Forest.
Captain John Clague Paintings
In 1999, with facilitation and support by the Conservancy, and the cooperation of the new owner, Don Bennet, Mike and Joyce Fowler donated a heritage agreement to the Township of North Kawartha, protecting the historic 1870s Captain John Clague paintings. The paintings are promoted by the Mt. Julian Inn at Viamede Resort on Stoney Lake where they are available for viewing by the public.
Our mission is to conserve the natural and cultural heritage and distinctive landscapes of the Kawartha bioregion.
