By Rafe Wright, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Guardian
December 3, 2022
CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — The Island Nature Trust has been awarded funding from the federal government to assist in its land protection work at its natural areas across P.E.I.
The trust will receive $600,000 from Ottawa through the federal government’s $27-million Enhanced Nature Legacy, which is funding 67 projects across Canada.
This funding will mean the trust can provide resources and support to private landowners looking to protect their land, while enhancing potential to acquire and protect ecologically sensitive land for the benefit of both the public and wildlife, said Bianca McGregor, Island Nature Trust executive director said in a federal news release on Nov. 25.
The money is designated for the province’s forest sector, which currently supports 13 species at risk, including the little brown bat, the northern myotis bat and the Canada warbler.
Like the piping plover, the Canada warbler is actively protected in P.E.I.’s National Park.
The rapid decrease in their numbers is due to habitat loss, with many of the forested areas they call home being turned into fields for farming in recent years.
The Priority Places for Species at Risk funding helps enable protection efforts in smaller communities across the country, said Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault.
“As we face the twin crises of rapid biodiversity loss and climate change, efforts to conserve and restore nature are incredibly important,” said Guilbault.
These are the areas across Canada prioritized by the Enhanced Nature Legacy funding, ranked in order of highest to lowest priority:
• Kespukwitk, southwest Nova Scotia.
• Wolastoq, Saint John River in New Brunswick.
• Forested landscape in P.E.I.
• St. Lawrence lowlands of Quebec.
With the funding secure, work can now be carried out in P.E.I. to set up protective measures for these at-risk species, including land management practices to support their habitat.
The funding will also help to meet conservation goals of protecting the provinces’ natural areas. The P.E.I. conservation community has set an overall goal of 10 per cent land protection, with seven per cent by 2030 as a starting point.
The federal initiative to protect species at risk is also giving funds to the Department of Environment, Energy and Climate Action and to the Abegweit Conservation Society.
Malpeque MP Heath MacDonald said in the same release it is vital that to protect and preserve P.E.I.’s forested sector now for generations to come.
Subscribe to our newsletter.
“We’re investing in these efforts to help protect and recover forest habitats that species at-risk call home to ensure their survival and help ecosystems thrive.”
