Friday, June 26, 2015

Jesuits lock in farmland near Guelph

The Jesuits of Upper Canada have agreed to lock in part of their 92-acre farm north of Guelph in the Ontario Farmland Trust (OFT).

It ensures the land can never be developed.

It's an example that could be copied by Christian organizations which own a lot of farmland as part of campgrounds and retreat centres.

Ignatius Jesuit Centre is famous for its adoption of organic standards on the farm and for protecting an old-growth forest.

It is situated on Highway 6 next to residential and commercial development as Guelph expands. To the north is Guelph Lake Conservation Area.

The 92 acres is part of Ignatius Centre’s 230-acre farm, and 270 acres that is home to the Centre’s spiritual retreat house and additional natural lands.

OFT’s Farmland Protection Easements are landowner-initiated ‘forever agreements’ that are registered on property title to prohibit any non-agricultural development on the land in the future.

OFT has piloted the use of agricultural easements in Ontario since 2009. Other farms protected by OFT are located in Halton, Peel, Simcoe County and Huron County.

The Ignatius Jesuit agreement is OFT’s first land protection project in the organization’s home community of Guelph-Wellington.

“This project is important for the Ontario Farmland Trust, as it demonstrates the value of communities coming together to protect significant agricultural and ecological lands in the urban fringe, says OFT Board Chair Norman Ragetlie.

“It also marks a major milestone for our growing organization and Ontario’s land trust community as a whole.”

The easement is the first of its kind in Canada that sees a Catholic Order partnering with a land trust to make a commitment to permanent land protection.


Ragetlie says the Ontario Farmland Trust hopes that the Ignatius Jesuit Centre easement “opens doors for additional land conservation initiatives to take root in other communities throughout Ontario where there are religious institutional land holdings and willing land trust partners.”