Groups kindle action with direct landowner contact

A major landowner contact program launched last year has been successful in engaging more landowners to help protect the Oak Ridges Moraine.

Twenty-three conservation and environmental groups formed the Caring for the Moraine Project (CMP) with the goal of raising landowner awareness and enhancing the environmental health of the moraine.

To date, CMP has planted approximately 235,500 trees over an area of 157 hectares, restored almost 8,400 meters of streams, and created three hectares of wetlands with an additional two hectares of wetland enhanced.

Kate Potter, CMP co-ordinator, says the program entails two basic approaches for engaging landowners — direct landowner contact and indirect landowner contact.

Direct contact involves sending a letter to landowners outlining specific projects on the moraine. This is followed by a telephone call to determine the landowners’ level of interest in becoming involved.

If the response is favourable, a face-to-face meeting takes place to discuss the owner’s property and objectives for environmental management as well as how these could dovetail with initiatives of the CMP.

Potter says all three aspects of the direct contact approach are important. The letter helps “reduce that cold calling effect of someone getting a phone call without having any prior knowledge of the project.”

Research has shown that the phone call is key to engaging landowner interest.

“Without that phone call, we’re not getting the rate of return that we would otherwise,” says Potter, adding that while there can be hesitancy at first from recipients, they are generally receptive to a face-to-face meeting once they know more about the organization and project.

“In terms of property visits resulting in an on-the-ground project, we range from 3.8 projects for every ten visits to 1.8 projects for every ten visits,” says Potter.

The CMP approach also involves indirect landowner contact, which facilitates the direct approach and includes a range of activities such as information nights, workshops, and publications.

Potter says the program’s strategies for engaging landowners are guided by a number of general principles.

First and foremost is respect for the landowners and their opinions.

“In most cases the landowner knows more about their property than the staff person coming out,” says Potter. “It’s a mutual learning process. We’re trying to bring some of our knowledge about the environmental system to them and we’re listening to the landowners and taking in what they’re saying as well.”

That respect includes recognition of the landowners’ rights to choose not to participate in a project.

“We’re going to respectfully understand that everyone has rights and this is not a government enforcement type program. It’s all based on voluntary landowners participating.  That’s a key thing,” says Potter.

When engaging landowners, knowing one’s stuff helps, as does being honest about what one doesn’t know.

“If you don’t know the answer to something, you have more credibility if you admit that and promise to look into it than if you just try to come up with something,” says Potter.

It’s also important to follow up on obtaining more information or completing certain promised activities, she says.

“We want to get the message across that we’re not just here today, gone tomorrow. We want to keep up a presence that we’re still here to help.”  In some cases this entails follow-up newsletters at certain intervals, particularly for landowners who weren’t ready for action at initial contact.

Potter points out that generally certain communities tend to be more engaged, certain topics garner more interest and certain workshops are more effective.

“It’s a process of trial and to find out what the hot spot meetings are and who are the really engaged community members,” she says.

Tapping into those local community members is key to achieving project goals as well, she says.

“A lot of the people we talk to are already converted and have an environmental ethic. They want to do the right thing.

“In order to reach the people in the middle who are either aren’t decided either way or have other stuff on the go, it’s important to have that neighbour to neighbour communication.”

Word-of-mouth is a particularly strong engagement strategy, she says.

The Oak Ridges Moraine is the starting point of the 65 rivers flowing into Lake Ontario, Lake Simcoe and Kawartha Lakes, and is the source of drinking water for more than 250,000 people.

For more information, visit www.moraineforlife.org.