In Alberta’s Parkland ecoregion, natural habitat is increasingly rare. Only about five percent of the region remains as natural vegetation, and less than one percent is formally protected. At the same time, conservation organizations face limited capacity to steward the lands they work to protect, especially as volunteer engagement has shifted in recent years.
The Edmonton and Area Land Trust created the Conservation Land Stewards (CLS) Program to expand stewardship capacity while connecting people more directly to the land they help protect. Since 2021, volunteers have been assigned to specific conservation lands and visit them regularly to complete hands-on stewardship tasks such as invasive species removal, trail maintenance, wildlife monitoring, nest box care, and habitat restoration.
Today, volunteers are actively stewarding 11 conservation lands across the Edmonton region and helping care for more than 1,350 acres of grasslands, forests, wetlands, and shoreline habitat. Through thousands of volunteer hours, the program has strengthened habitat.
