A large block of northern Ontario boreal forest and peatlands is set to be protected from industrial development. The Nature Conservancy of Canada says it has acquired 814 square kilometres south of Kapuskasing, land previously held by a company that sold carbon offset credits.
The federal government is contributing $13 million toward a total investment of $64 million from public and private donors. Federal ministers announced the protection of more than 81,400 hectares on October 13, noting the landscape stores more than 30 million tonnes of carbon and provides habitat for species at risk, including the red-headed woodpecker and the bobolink.
The conservancy says that where the landscape is healthy and no vulnerable species would be disturbed, some day-use recreation such as hiking and paddling may continue under provincial rules.
The announcement lands ahead of next week's United Nations biodiversity summit. Ottawa earlier this year unveiled a $3.8-billion nature strategy after the federal environmental watchdog found Canada more than a million square kilometres short of its 2025 target of protecting 25 per cent of lands and inland waters.
