Conservation Easements:
Part of the Kiawah Conservancy Land Preservation Program
by Justin Core, Kiawah Conservancy Land Preservation Coordinator
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conservation easement is a legal agreement between a landowner and a land trust or other qualified
organization, such as a government agency, that permanently limits uses of the land in order to protect its conservation
values. It allows landowners to continue to own and use their land, sell it or pass it on to heirs. The Kiawah Conservancy
holds conservation easements on seven properties. These include three properties owned by the Kiawah Island
Community Associatino (KICA), as well as parcels that remain under the ownership of other private entities or families.
Together these properties account for over 330 acres of natural habitat on and around Kiawah Island.
When a conservation easement is donated to a land trust like the Kiawah Conservancy, the property owner gives
up some of the rights associated with the land. For example, on KICA’s preserved properties, the Association has given
up the right to subdivide or develop preserved areas, but has kept the right to allow Association members access, engage
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