Guided by the Urban and Rural Planning Act, 2000, municipalities manage relatively large areas of land, some of which is productive wildlife habitat. The Stewardship Association of Municipalities (SAM) Inc, an incorporated, environmental non-governmental organization that works in close partnership with the Province’s Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture, Wildlife Division to identify that significant wildlife habitat and to encourage municipalities to seek a balance between development and conservation of those lands. Municipal members sign Habitat Stewardship Agreements with the provincial government, publicly committing to the conservation of wildlife habitat found within planning boundaries. These lands are then conserved via appropriate municipal development regulations and associated land-use zoning as well as provincial land use management. Since the first agreement signed in 1993, SAM has supported over 50 communities in NL, helping to conserve approximately 70,000 acres of important biodiverse habitat.

Jonathan Sharpe BIO

Jonathan Sharpe is a Habitat Ecologist with the provincial Wildlife Division of the Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture. Since 2007, he has also been the provincial program coordinator for the Eastern Habitat Joint Venture in Newfoundland and Labrador whose flagship program is working with municipal councils on the conservation of wildlife habitat found within municipal planning boundaries. The province partners closely with the Stewardship Association of Municipalities Inc on the implementation of this program.

Zach Burrows BIO

Joining the Stewardship Association of Municipalities (SAM) Inc in 2021 as a Conservation Biologist, Zach Burrows has served as the Executive Director for the organization since 2022. After receiving an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree with specialization in history from the University of Ottawa, Zach started in the environmental industry as a Red-Seal Certified Landscape Horticulturist, and later acquired a Fish and Wildlife technician diploma from the College of the North Atlantic. From the rugged coastline of the Avalon Peninsula, the rocky tablelands of Newfoundland’s west coast to the sandy shores of Nova Scotia, Zach has practiced conservation across Newfoundland and throughout Atlantic Canada for a myriad of species and their habitat.

To join the Virtual Planner’s Plate, please click here to join the Microsoft Teams meeting, on Nov 15th, 2023, at 12:30 pm NT (12 pm AT).