New reserve to protect 49 hectares of woodland near St. Peters Bay - Action News
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PEI

New reserve to protect 49 hectares of woodland near St. Peters Bay

The Nature Conservancy of Canada has bought two parcels of land near St. Peters Bay on P.E.I., creating the Five Houses Woodland Nature Reserve to protect valuable forests, wetlands and wildlife.

Treed areas can serve as carbon sinks, and along with wetlands offer safe haven

Two people walking through a forest
Lanna Campbell, P.E.I. program director for the Nature Conservancy of Canada, and Hannah Kienzle, the group's stewardship co-ordinator for P.E.I. , walk through the Five Houses Woodland Nature Reserve. (Submitted by Lanna Campbell)

The Nature Conservancy of Canada has bought two parcels of land near St. Peters Bay on Prince Edward Island's North Shore, creating the Five Houses Woodland Nature Reserve to protect valuable forests, wetlands and wildlife.

Lanna Campbell, the group's program co-ordinator for P.E.I., says the 49 hectares of land is now being safeguarded under P.E.I.'s Natural Areas Protection Act.

"In perpetuity, nothing can ever happen to this property," she told CBC News. "Sothere will be no infringement of agriculture, no infringement of development, no cottages, no roads, no transmission lines."

The land was bought from a private landowner using a combination of donations from individuals andprivate charities, and funding fromvarious levels of government.

Campbell said there are signs the area would have been harvested for domestic timber in the past, but there's also evidence of older trees.

Map of northeaster P.E.I. showing where the new nature reserve is near St. Peters Bay.
The red block on this map shows where the newly protected land is located. (Submitted by Andrew Herygers)

"It's really common on P.E.I. and anywhere in the Maritimes that a lot of landscapes will have been affected by hundreds of years of settlers accessing wood.

"We still have to dive a bit deeper, but we think we have some birch in there and some really big magnificent trees that are maybe over 200 years old."

Conservation combats climate change

The new conservation area brings Canada a step closer to achieving the federal government's 30 by '30 goal, to protect 30 per cent of the country's lands and waters by the year 2030.

Lanna observing the wetlands at the new nature reserve near St. Peters Bay.
Lanna Campbell, P.E.I. program director for the Nature Conservancy of Canada, visits a wetlands area at the Five Houses Woodland Nature Reserve. (Submitted by Lanna Campbell)

Campbell said conservation areas like this one can help P.E.I. achieve "really ambitious targets" moving the Island closer to net zero.

For example, the trees at Five Houses Woodland Nature Reserve can serve as a carbon sink, counteracting how much carbon is released elsewhere on P.E.I.

Forests help moderate climate change by absorbing carbon that has been released by human activities such as burning fossil fuels.

"They help us handle storms better," Campbell added. "They absorb water when we receive really high-intensity rainfall."

The new P.E.I. nature reserve will also foster at-risk species such as the threatened Canada warbler andolive-sided flycatcher, as well as the rareblack-backed woodpecker.

Yellow bird (Canada Warbler) standing on branch.
The Canada warbler, considered threatened under the Federal Species at Risk Act, is among the bird species observed in the area of the new nature reserve. (Submitted by Alexander Jardine)

"That wildlife can have a larger space to roam and to exist and to sort of hide away from the sounds of cars and people," Campbell said."Theyhave the opportunity to find safe haven there."

Campbell said the Nature Conservancy hopes to expand the St. Peters Bay reserve in the near future, raising money to acquireanother14 hectares nearby.

"The more habitat that we can conserve, the better chances they have at survival."