Entrepreneur Commons

Purpose

The purpose of Ecotrust Canada is to build the conservation economy.



Conservation Economy

We are driven by the triple-bottom-line, where economic opportunity improves rather than degrades social and environmental conditions. Some people call it sustainability – we call it the conservation economy. A conservation economy provides meaningful work and good livelihoods, supports vibrant communities and the recognition of Aboriginal rights and title, and conserves and restores the environment.



What We Do

Ecotrust Canada builds the capacity of communities, institutions and businesses to participate in the conservation economy; raises and brokers capital to accelerate the transition to a conservation economy; and connects conservation entrepreneurs to each other, and to the marketplace. We champion the conservation economy.



Community Programs

Ecotrust Canada works in communities on the BC coast in close partnership with individuals and community groups. We support efforts to gather and understand information about local resources, create conservation-based development plans, and initiate community economic development. We believe the creativity and vision of local entrepreneurs – those in both business and social organizations – will build the conservation economy, and we seek to support their work.



First Nations [aboriginal] communities are an important focus area for us. The First Nations of British Columbia have called the rainforest home for over ten thousand years, but have been virtually denied access to its resources for the last century. During that time a series of government policies caused the systematic destruction of art, languages, spiritual beliefs, and family structure, and led many First Nations to the precipice of extinction. The result today is communities of despair and cultural disintegration - with rates of unemployment and social problems that dwarf those of mainstream Canada.



Meanwhile non-native coastal communities throughout BC are also experiencing a fundamental transformation. For the past century the beneficiary of the liquidation economy, they now are grappling with the rapid disappearance of its “traditional” jobs – industrial logging, large-scale fishing, pulp milling, mining. It is not unusual to find towns with well-developed community infrastructure – roads, schools, library, hockey rink – where the jobs of just ten years ago are markedly reduced, with great uncertainty about what will replace them.



There are signs of hope, however. First Nations communities are now regaining their right to self-determination, and stewardship of the land they inherited from their ancestors, while a cultural revival is underway in villages up and down the coast. Entrepreneurs are building companies devoted to sustainable shellfish aquaculture, eco-tourism, low-impact logging, and gathering non-timber forest products. Communities are seeking ways to add more value to their harvests, rather than exporting their raw resources and the jobs that they create. First Nations are consciously choosing conservation-based development planning as they gain control of their land.



It is against this backdrop that Ecotrust Canada works to empower local communities, encourage sustainable resource stewardship, provide working capital, and bring the conservation economy to life. Our programs fall mainly in two categories: information services, mapping, and planning help local groups assess their resources, gain tools for informed decision-making, and plan for their futures. Lending and economic development services then provide concrete supports towards building new economic opportunities. Together, these activities support both the conception and the creation of a true conservation economy.