Conserving Plant Habitats
The North Carolina Botanical Garden Foundation is the Garden’s partner in preserving ecologically important land parcels adjacent to the Garden and beyond. Acting as a land trust, the Foundation acquires and holds lands adjacent to protected lands to maximize conservation benefits; this systemic approach supports biodiversity and keeps invasive plant species at bay. To accomplish this goal, the Foundation owns and holds conservation easements on several hundred acres of properties.
The Foundation currently owns 141 acres of nature preserves, holds 115 acres of conservation easements, and manages a further 84 acres in conservation properties. The conservation easements are all adjacent to Garden or Foundation nature preserves, which serve both as buffer and as added natural area. The 92-acre Morgan Creek Preserve, which includes Merritt’s Pasture, is owned by the Town of Chapel Hill and is the largest conservation easement. The 75-acre Laurel Hill Nature Preserve is the largest property owned fee simple by the Foundation. Garden staff monitor all conservation easements to ensure that the terms of the agreement are followed. Read more about the NCBGF as a land trust here.
The Foundation is a member in good standing of the Land Trust Alliance and has adopted their Land Trust Standards and Practices as its guiding principles. The Land Trust alliance is a national land conservation organization that represents more than 1,000 member land trusts and their 4.6 million supporters nationwide.
Click here to download a map of lands managed by the North Carolina Botanical Garden.
