Four wetland sites in Ontario are now permanently protected as of World Wetlands Day.
The Nature Conservancy of Canada is celebrating the protection of over 940 hectares of lands and waters on Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron, as well as on Lake Superior’s Black Bay Peninsula, near Thunder Bay.
The 191-hectare Black Bay Peninsula property, located approximately 100 kilometers east of Thunder Bay, features abundant forested wetlands.
“The protection of these 191 hectares of forested wetland really bolsters the existing network of protected lands on the Black Bay Peninsula. These protection efforts at the landscape scale help to create large, protected movement corridors for wide-ranging mammals,” explained the Program Director of the Northern Ontario, Nature Conservancy of Canada Coastal, Kaitlin Richardson. “2/3 wetlands are rare on the north shore of Lake Superior, making the Black Bay Peninsula a special refuge for wildlife like moose, which depend on wetland habitat, especially during calving season.”
This project builds on a network of protected properties within the Black Bay’s provincially significant wetland area and helps to
sustain species at risk.
Wetlands are a conservation priority, as they provide vital habitat for many at-risk turtles, salamanders, snakes, and aquatic insects.
Once a prominent natural feature across the Great Lakes region, wetland habitat and biodiversity have been drastically reduced and degraded over the past 200 years, due to drainage and invasive species.
“Canada’s wetlands are globally significant in terms of mitigating the impacts of climate change and protecting biodiversity, and by working with partners like the Nature Conservancy of Canada, we are helping to protect, restore, and enhance these important ecosystems, said the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Steven Guilbeault. “The Nature Smart Climate Solutions Fund is supporting our progress in our response to climate change and biodiversity loss. Our investments to protect key wetlands and their role in storing carbon also support Canada’s efforts to conserve 30 percent of land, inland water, and oceans by 2030.”
These projects were made possible in part by the Government of Canada, through the Nature Smart Climate Solutions Fund, and the Government of Ontario, through the Greenlands Conservation Partnership Program.