New land protected as part of the Nor'Westers Project - (Supplied Photo/Via Nature Conservancy of Canada) - Kaitlin Richardson
The Nature Conservancy of Canada has announced the expansion of protected land along Lake Superior.
An additional 935 hectares of forests, wetlands, and mesas (flat-topped landforms with steep sides) are now protected.
This brings the organization up to over 9,000 hectares of land that has been acquired for conversation along Lake Superior.
The new land is extending a network of previously protected lands near Black Bay Peninsula and Big Trout Bay.
This conservation project is called Nor’Westers because it includes part of the Nor’Wester mountain range.
This area is home to a variety of habitats, including mixed wood and coniferous forests, and wetlands that sustain species like moose and at-risk turtles.
The mesas on the newly protected land also provide the unique habitat requirements for at-risk peregrine falcons which are listed as a special concern by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada.
“The Nor’Westers project strategically protects spaces that bolster existing protected areas, helping to create contiguous habitat for wide-ranging mammals in the Lake Superior natural area,” explained Program Director, Kaitlin Richardson. “The Nor’Westers conservation project (protects) a key area from deforestation and development, allowing the forests and wetlands here to continue to sequester carbon, while also protecting important cliff habitat for nesting at-risk raptors.”
This land was purchased with funds from private donors, foundations, the Government of Canada, through the Natural Heritage Conservation Program, part of Canada’s Nature Fund, and the Government of Ontario, through the Greenlands Conservation Partnership program.
