c/o Nature Conservancy of Canada.

The Nature Conservancy of Canada is protecting more land in Southwestern Nova Scotia.

A private land holding of 296 hectares within the Tobeatic Wilderness Area has been purchased by the NCC to protect the mainland Moose and other species at risk, and preserve the area.

NCC Program Director in Nova Scotia Jaimee Morozoff described it as the donut hole of the area they’ve already protected.

“It’s completely surrounded by the Tobeatic Wilderness Area and this was private land that had been owned for several decades and they finally were ready to not be the owners anymore but they wanted to make sure that it was going to be protected and continue to be there in the future too.”

c/o Nature Conservancy of Canada.

The purchased land is composed of conifer forest, seven hectares of freshwater wetlands and eight km of shoreline along Moose Lake, Skudiak Lake and Blufhill Lake.

In addition to the mainland Moose, the area is also home to the olive-sided flycatcher, chimney swift and eastern wood-pewee (pee-wee), which are listed under Canada’s Species at Risk Act.

Morozoff says the purchase was a good fit for them because it extends protected areas and helps create corridors for wildlife.

“This is an area that we have identified as having really high biodiversity value,” says Morozoff. “It’s helping to create these large protected areas which are very valuable for species that need a lot of space, so some of the forest birds, some of the larger mammals. Those are all things that play in when we’re trying to decide where to do our work.”

The project was funded in part by the American Friends of Canadian Nature, the Government of Canada’s Target 1 Challenge Fund administered by the Government of Nova Scotia, the Nova Scotia Crown Share Land Legacy Trust and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, through the North American Wetlands Conservation Act.

Locator map of the new conservation area, c/o Nature Conservancy of Canada.