The Nature Conservancy of Canada has added another property to its conservation portfolio in Southwestern Nova Scotia. More accurately they added 24 properties that will now become a continuous conservation area.
The not-for-profit charity has purchased 2,703 acres of old-growth Acadian forest, wetlands and over 25 kilometres of undisturbed lakefront shoreline in Upper Ohio, Nova Scotia.
A portion of the new NCC conservation area in Upper Ohio. Photo: Mike Dembeck.
The property features large hemlock, sugar maple, red maple, red spruce, white birch, balsam fir, white pine, white birch, and aspen trees, which are characteristic of the original Acadian forests of the Maritimes. Due to centuries of harvesting, only 1-5 per cent of mature Acadian forests remain intact.
The wetlands provide habitat for eastern painted turtle and snapping turtle, both listed as species of special concern, as well as migratory waterfowl, such as Canada goose, mallard, wood duck, ring-necked duck and American black duck. The area is also home to rare plants, such as Virginia meadow beauty, swamp loosestrife and long-leaved panic grass.
The land purchased was done so on the open real estate market, and the NCC was pleased to scoop them up before they could be taken for other less environmentally friendly purposes.
Jaimee Morozoff, NCC Program Director in Nova Scotia says that the properties purchased are essentially all connected which she says can be tough to find. “It’s quite rare to be able to get properties all close together and with value as a conservation project but we were able to do that with this site and are very excited about it,” Morozoff said.
The land was purchased with money from donors along with the federal, provincial, and United States Governments
Timothy Halman, NS Minister of Environment and Climate Change says the Nova Scotia government was pleased to help as this project will help reach the government’s goal to protect 20% of Nova Scotian land and water by 2030.
A waterfront view in the new NCC conservation area in Upper Ohio. Photo: Mike Dembeck.
“Land conservation is essential for Nova Scotia’s environmental health, economic growth and prosperity, and ensuring a sustainable future for our province,” Halman said.
This project, west of the Tobeatic Wilderness Area, is the third-largest land conservation project in NCC’s 50-year history in Nova Scotia.
