Sunday 22-26 October 2017, Eurosite and other members of the LIFE European Private Land Conservation Network (ELCN) project team were welcomed by the International land Conservation Network (ILCN) for an educational study tour of private land conservation projects around Denver, Colorado. From 26-28 October 2017, the ELCN team has attended the 30^th Land Trust Alliance’s annual Rally in Denver.

The Colorado Study Tour was a great opportunity to learn about the conservation tools and techniques in the US that are not yet widely applied in the EU first hand, and to discuss the potential of their transferability with private land conservation practitioners from the US. We have met with the representatives of the Trust for Public Land (TPL) and Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust (CCALT) in Buena Vista, the Gunnison Ranchland Conservation Legacy (GRCL) in Gunnison, and the Mesa Land Trust in Grand Junction. Besides meeting the staff of the land trusts, we have also had the opportunity to meet in person several of the land owners participating in the land conservation actions. These were very inspirational meetings we will not soon forget. We were moved by their stories and the love and respect they have for their land.

At the Land Trust Alliance’s annual Rally, which was attended by more than 2000 inspired and passionate land conservation practitioners from the US, Canada, South America and beyond, the ELCN team had a chance to attend several out of more than 130 educational sessions focused on land conservation topics.

A full report of the Study Tour will be available soon.