My wife, Diane, and I plan to leave a substantial portion of our estate to environmental groups, especially Sierra Club BC.

We have been passionate outdoors people most of our lives and want future generations to have the same opportunities we did. Yet what we see is wilderness loss, climate change, pollution and species extinctions. We believe that humans have a duty to protect nature. Possibly we are the last generation who can do this in a meaningful way.

Sierra Club BC is B.C.’s oldest environmental charity. Since 1969, it has protected areas of ecological significance such as the Carmanah Valley, Clayoquot Sound and the Great Bear Rainforest. Today its 30,000 supporters continue that same work, but in the context of a climate-changing world.

Diane and I have long admired Sierra Club BC, both for its science- and solutions-based advocacy and its effective grass-roots action.  It cuts to the essence of environmental issues in a thoughtful manner and gets results. By supporting Sierra, we know that British Columbia will always have an advocate for nature.

Remarkably, less than 3% of charitable giving currently goes to environmental causes. As longtime volunteers and supporters, Diane and I want to ensure Sierra BC can continue its work of protecting nature and getting people outside, now and forever. I encourage you to include the Sierra Club of BC Foundation in both your charitable giving and your will.

Brian Pinch, a retired investment advisor, was one of the pioneers of socially responsible and environmental investing in Canada. He and his wife Diane live in Victoria BC.