Freshwater Bay land to be nature reserve after fundraising goal achieved
Land for the reserve was donated by the Crosbie family
A new Freshwater Bay land reserve represents something rare: an oasis of nature within a capital city.
The Nature Conservancy of Canada announced Thursday that it has completed its Freshwater Bay conservation project, which falls just within St. John's city limits. The 9.8-hectare property, with a value of about $2.2 million, was donated to the organization by Rob Crosbie and the Crosbie family.
It's unusual for a nature reserve like this one, which runs nearly to the coastline and includes boreal forest and wetlands, to be so close to a capital city, let alone within one, says Megan Lafferty, the Nature Conservancy's program director in Newfoundland and Labrador.
"I think a lot of capital cities across the country and around the world are now kind of retroactively trying to find nature in their cities, so it's pretty special that we had this nature and are able to set it aside, both for residents and for visitors who come to see Newfoundland and Labrador," Lafferty said.
The Crosbies approached the organization about the land, which is currently zoned for industrial use, in 2017, she said, and the Nature Conservancy reviewed it to see how it fit their biodiversity targets.
"With its forests, its wetlands, some seabirds off the side of it, we decided that yes, it was of great conservation value, and also there's a lot of recreational value," Lafferty said.
The land is along Freshwater Pond but doesn't extend directly to the ocean, she said. Starting at the rocky barachois and extending to Blackhead Road, the land includes boreal forest with balsam fir and spruce trees as well as wetlands. Just beyond the land, there are several different species of seabirds, including black-legged kittiwakes and black guillemots.
"By protecting the land inland of that, it's kind of a little buffer for them," Lafferty said of those nesting seabirds.
Community engagement
The group began the process of fundraising the $500,000 needed for legal fees, surveys and ongoing land stewardship, and met that goal through donations of all sizes, Lafferty said.
The hope is that the land will become an outdoor classroom of sorts for students, she said, given that it is located close to not only Memorial University but also several other schools of various levels.
Much of the land surrounding the reserve is Crown land, but there is a bit of land along the shoreline with an unknown owner. Now that the reserve has been funded and announced, the next step is to engage with the surrounding communities, Lafferty said.
"We like to make sure that we're not shutting down traditional uses of the land, that we're truly making it for the people who use it," she said.
With files from Cecil Haire