CVLT and the Nature Trust of BC (NTBC) are jointly hiring a covenant monitor for work in the Comox Valley and northern sunshine coast region.

CONTRACT POSITION: Conservation Compliance Monitor – Comox Valley Land Trust and The Nature Trust of British Columbia
TERM: Upon candidate selection – March 31, 2023. Renewable thereafter.
TIME COMMITMENT: ~200 CVLT hours + ~185 NTBC hours
MAXIMUM CONTRACT VALUE: $9,750 + $9,000 including all mileage and expenses.

Covenant Monitor – Download Posting Here

The Comox Valley Land Trust (CVLT) and The Nature Trust of British Columbia (NTBC) are environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs). CVLT is based in the Comox Valley of
Vancouver Island. It is both a registered charity and a registered society. CVLT has three programs: the Land Protection Program, the Comox Valley Conservation Partnership (CVCP) and a Conservation Science and Research Program.

The Land Protection Program focuses on the conservation of ecologically significant private lands in the Comox Valley. To date, CVLT has protected 15 private properties totalling 279.6-hectares
(690.9-acres). In some cases, CVLT is the landowner and leases its land to the Comox Valley Regional District as a Conservation Area or Park. In most cases, a private individual or local
government park agency owns the land, and CVLT holds a Conservation Covenant (Section 219, Land Title Act) on the title. Often another conservation organization is a co-covenant holder
alongside CVLT (e.g., The Nature Trust of BC or The Land Conservancy of BC).

NTBC is a large non-profit land conservation organization and registered charity based in Vancouver. Since 1971 NTBC and their partners have acquired more than 500 conservation properties in British Columbia totalling 72,000 hectares (178,000 acres). These conservation properties include private land owned in fee simple, conservation covenants on private land, and long-term leased or licensed Crown land. Several of NTBC’s conservation covenants are located near the Comox Valley, with eight on Cortes Island and one along the Cowichan River.

CVLT and NTBC conduct annual inspections of properties with covenants or leases in place to assess compliance with the terms of each agreement. In total there are 15 properties managed
by the CVLT and 9 managed by NTBC.

SCOPE OF WORK

CVLT and NTBC are looking to retain contract services of a qualified individual to perform compliance monitoring on an annual basis for each of the 24 properties. Compliance audits are to take place between April and September, with a covenant monitoring report prepared for each one. CVLT and NTBC each have similar monitoring report templates that have been created to meet each organization’s specific requirements and includes text, tables, maps, and photos.

Once completed, CVLT reports are reviewed by CVLT’s Executive Director and the Land Protection Committee of the CVLT Board of Directors as well as representatives from any co-
covenant holders. NTBC reports are reviewed by NTBC’s Director of Conservation Land Management. Upon approval, they are filed within each organization, and copies forwarded by
each organization to landowners with any relevant follow-up information.

CONTRACT DELIVERABLES

Contract deliverables for each of the 24 properties will include:

  1. Review the Baseline Documentation Report and the previous year’s compliance monitoring report.
  2. Review any Property Management Plans where these are linked to compliance with the covenant or lease.
  3. Review any correspondence between CVLT or NTBC and the landowner/land manager from the previous year.
  4. Contact each of the landowners to schedule a site visit.
  5. Conduct an assessment of each property using recent vs historic aerial imagery, such as that available on the CVRD iMap system, to detect any changes to the property.
  6. Visit each property and conduct a ground-based site inspection to search out any evidence of activities taking place (or not taking place) that could constitute a breach of the terms of the covenant or lease. Examples typically include things like cutting down trees or damaging vegetation, depositing waste or other foreign materials, building unauthorized trails, or altering the hydrology in some way. Each covenant is unique and has its own set of prohibited activities and permitted activities. These are summarized in a checklist-style table that has been produced for each property.
  7. Map the route traversed during the site inspection.
  8. Take photos of representative areas of each property as well as photos of things like public access points, property lines, and high use areas.
  9. Fill out the compliance checklist table.
  10. Combine the table, maps and photos into the monitoring report template.
  11. Incorporate any edits to the report as necessary.
  12. Once finalized, email PDF copies and/or mail hardcopies to each landowner and covenant holder.
  13. Other activities related to covenant or lease compliance as may be required from time to time.

QUALIFICATIONS

The contract opportunity is open to anyone who:

  • Has a minimum of two to four years work experience in an environmental protection-related field, preferably including familiarity with conservation covenants;
  • Has a post-secondary degree or technical diploma in a relevant field of study;
  • Is highly organized and has task management related experience;
  • Demonstrates strong competencies in the use of various email platforms, desktop publishing and database programs, cloud-based data management and file sharing
    systems (Google Drive, and Dropbox), and common mobile apps;
  • Demonstrates strong competencies in field-based mapping and use of GPS systems;
  • Demonstrates a passion for conservation of the region’s ecology and wildlife;
  • Demonstrates a confident ability to see tasks through to completion;
  • Is exceptionally well organized, meticulous self-directed and efficient in service delivery;
  • Possesses strong interpersonal skills through one-on-one conversations, telephone and email etiquette;
  • Has experience representing an organization within a community;
  • Has a valid BC drivers licence;
  • Is legally allowed to work in Canada.

REPORTING

The contractor reports to the CVLT Executive Director or NTBC Director of Conservation Land

Management, as applicable to the property ownership. The contractor will be expected to self-manage the coordination and execution of tasks and work independently.

SERVICE DELIVERY

As an independent contractor, the selected applicant will set their own working schedule, but will be required to attend one or more meetings scheduled for specific dates and times to review the
final deliverables. The contractor will provide their own office from which to work, and provide all equipment (e.g., personal vehicle, computer, telephone, field equipment) required to produce the
contract deliverables.

Specific training on the monitoring methods and reporting templates, including field-based training, will be provided by the CVLT Executive Director, NTBC Director of Conservation Land
Management (or representative thereof), as applicable to each organization’s template. It is the intention of both the CVLT and NTBC that the selected contractor will be able to perform
these same duties annually over a period of years. This is preferable as it builds familiarity with the properties, with the landowners and with other project partners. CVLT and NTBC may
continue to increase the area of land it protects over time as new projects come to completion.

The time commitment required to complete the monitoring work and the maximum contract value will also increase over time as needed.

EVALUATION

The contractor will be evaluated based on the success of meeting the deliverables in the contract and the work plans referenced above. CVLT and NTBC annual contract reviews take place in
February prior to contract renewals for April 1. They are completed by the CVLT Executive Director, one CVLT Board member, and the NTBC Director of Conservation Land Management.

OWNERSHIP OF PRODUCTS

The CVLT and/or NTBC will own all products, materials, photographs and any intellectual property developed under this contract. At any time when requested, and upon termination of the contract, the contractor will provide original copies to the CVLT Executive Director or NTBC Director of Conservation Land Management, or ensure that they are archived appropriately on the CVLT cloud-based system, as applicable to property ownership.

APPLICATION DETAILS

Applicants are encouraged to highlight their relevant skills, experiences, and educational background as well as provide insight into personal interests, and connections to the Comox Valley’s social or environmental fabric (including East Vancouver Island or Discovery Islands region).

Interested applicants are required to electronically submit a resume and one-page cover letter (in PDF format) to [email protected] with the subject line reading “Compliance Monitoring Application” no later than July 17th, 2022 at midnight.