The Real Estate Foundation of BC presented its inaugural Land Awards at the Land Awards Gala, held November 18, 2010 in Vancouver. Living Forest Communities' Elkington Forest Project won in the private sector category. The Great Bear Rainforest Agreements 2000-2010, led by Coastal First Nations-Great Bear Initiative and Nanwakolas Council, won in the public sector category. Wildsight's Lake Windermere Project took top spot in the non-profit sector category.

The three winners were selected from a total of 48 award nominations. A six-member selection committee—of which five members were external to the Real Estate Foundation—short-listed nine finalists and selected the winner in each category from the short-list.

A special individual honour, the Land Champion award, was presented to Tim Pringle, former executive director of the Real Estate Foundation, to recognize his professional and personal contributions to responsible real estate and land use practices for more than 20 years.

The Real Estate Foundation created the Land Awards in 2010 to recognize initiatives which demonstrate leadership, innovation, and collaboration related to sustainable land use in British Columbia. The awards highlight dynamic, forward-thinking people and organizations—leaders in creating sustainable communities and making BC a better place to live.

Introducing the awards at the gala, Land Awards selection committee chair and Real Estate Foundation governor, Jack Wong, said, “The goal of the awards is to raise awareness of projects in the province of BC which are creating new models for how we respectfully manage the land. Land will continue to be developed in our province as the population grows. The projects highlighted this evening will help us prepare for this continued pressure.”

Videos profiling the nine finalists and the Land Champion are available [here]. 

The Real Estate Foundation of BC works to advance knowledge and practices leading to more sustainable use and conservation of land in BC through a variety of programs and initiatives, including its grants program. Since 1988 the Foundation has approved over 1500 grants totaling more than $57 million in communities throughout the province.