About Us

The Walpole Island Land Trust is a brand new land trust and the very first Aboriginal Land Trust to receive charitable status in Canada.  The Walpole Island Land Trust was incorporated in January of 2008 and received charitable status in Canada in August of 2008.  The Walpole Island Land Trust is a grassroots organization that aims to conserve land in the Walpole Island First Nation/Bkejwanong Territory (Bkejwanong is the Anishnaabe name meaning where the waters divide).  In addition to conserving land, the Walpole Island Land Trust aims to maintain and reconnect the community's cultural ties to the land, thereby ensuring community investment in the natural beauty that is found within Bkejwanong. 

Bkejwanong Territory is located in the heart of the Great Lakes at the mouth of Lake St. Clair, and is an incredibly diverse matrix of five different ecosystem types including: Wetlands recognized internationally under the RAMSAR convention to be of global significance, some of the most diverse and most pristine Tallgrass Prairies left in Canada, vast expanses of globally endangered Oak Savanna Forests, breathtaking Carolinian Forests, and Rich Coastal Waterways.  Walpole Island First Nation is a hotspot for Species at Risk in Canada (some of these species are not known to exist anywhere else), and is at the intersection of three international migratory flyways. 

The community of Bkejwanong is made up of Pottawatomi, Ojibwe, and Odawa tribes and is widely known for their work in environmental and natural heritage research, environmental advocacy, and sustainable development.  The community is also a very rapidly growing commmunity, currently having  48% of their population under the age of 26.  Because of this rapidly growing population, development pressures pose an imminent threat to the land.  Each year more and more of this incredibly significant landscape is being lost.  The community of Walpole Island First Nation and the Walpole Island Land Trust need your help to ensure that the beauty and diversity that exists in this truly unique place persists now and into the future for generations to come.


The intent of creating the Land Trust was to build opportunities with local landholders and to help us tap into additional resources needed to conserve and maintain the treasured natural resources of Bkejwanong territory and enhance the quality of our natural environment.