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Nature Conservancy of Canada expands on P.E.I. with land purchase

The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) is increasing the amount of land under its protection on the Island with the purchase of 57 hectares in Abrams Village, P.E.I.

NCC buys, protects 57 hectares of land on the Island

CBC News ·
The Nature Conservancy of Canada announced the purchase of 57 hectares of land on P.E.I. on Friday. Pictured above at the announcement are (l-r) Bobby Morrissey, Egmont MP, Julie Vasseur, NCC program director, Rachel Lapointe, director of the Acadian Museum of PEI and Richard Brown, P.E.I. minister of communities, land and environment. (Tom Steepe/CBC)

The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) is increasing the amount of land under its protection on the Island with the purchase of 57 hectares in Abrams Village, P.E.I.

The land consists of two properties at the mouth of the Haldimand River, encompassing intact salt marshes and coastal forests.

The total cost of the purchase, including legal fees, staff time and setting up an endowment to cover maintenance expenses, came to approximately $225,000.

The purchased land includes 49 acres of intact salt marsh, a rare habitat on the Island. (Sean Landsman/Nature Conservancy of Canada)

Of the 57 hectares, 20 are intact salt marshes which, according to the NCC, are rare on P.E.I., covering only one per cent of Island land.

According to the group, intact salt marshes are some of the most valuable and productive ecosystems in the world.

"The Abram's Village salt marsh is a rare undisturbed habitat, and we are thrilled to be able to protect it," said Julie Vasseur, P.E.I. program director for the Nature Conservancy of Canada.

"NCC is not only conserving this critical ecosystem, we are protecting an important part of P.E.I.'s history."

The project is part of the Government of Canada's Natural Areas Conservation Program and got support from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under the North American Wetlands Conservation Act. The NCC has conserved more than 73,000 acres in the Atlantic provinces.

"These lands have esthetic and they have spiritual meaning to a lot of different people and beyond that they provide ecological services that humans depend on and so it is really important that we have these lands for our future generations," Vasseur said. "We don't want to be the generation of people who left our kids and grandkids with nothing."

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