Comox Valley Naturalists Society

Sunday, October 22, 2006
Bill Turner - The Land Conservancy of British Columbia

The featured speaker will be Bill Turner who will provide a slide show illustrating the story of the creation of TLC - The Land Conservancy of British Columbia (BC's National Trust). TLC was established with the mandate to protect areas of ecological importance, as well as areas of historic, cultural, scientific, scenic or compatible recreational value.

In its nearly 10 years of existence, TLC has, by applying the 'National Trust' model, created a membership organization which has grown to over 5,000 members and has protected well over 100,000 acres in BC. TLC has raised over $30 million dollars and its work has encouraged government partners to invest at least another $50 million in conservation projects during the same period. As a part of the international family of National Trusts (7 million members), TLC follows the proven practices of the first National Trust, formed in England 1895. The concept of protecting Special Places, Forever for Everyone is even more important today.

Bill is Executive Director and founder of TLC. A lifelong resident of Victoria and someone who has always worked to improve the quality of life in the province, he previously worked as a police officer, a realtor and a computer systems consultant. In 2005 Bill was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada, awarded the Ecostar Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2004, the Victoria Citizen of the Year Award in 2002 and the BC Minister of the Environment Award, (Individual Category) in 1998. This list is by no means exhaustive.

Click on a link below to view descriptions of previous guest speakers.