A conservation easement is a voluntary, legal arrangement where a landowner agrees to manage all or part of their land in a way that protects the biodiversity and ecological function of that land. They are tied to land title and will transfer with change of land ownership.
An easement is granted to an eligible conservation organization or government agency under The Conservation Easement Act (2021) in Saskatchewan. The conservation easement is typically negotiated in perpetuity, and is registered on the title of the land. The Act also provides that conservation easements may be of fixed duration and, in recent years, “term conservation easements” have also been developed.
Under a conservation easement, the landowner continues using the land subject to the restrictions in the easement. They are free to sell, gift or will that property, but the easement binds future landowners to the same land use restrictions.
The easement and the restrictions included in the easement are negotiated and agreed upon at the outset of the agreement to meet the interests of the landowner and the conservation objectives of the easement holder which are often to preserve the biological, physical and cultural attributes of the land for future generations.
The landowner retains ownership of the land while the easement holder is said to hold an “interest” in the land.
