The Nova Scotia Nature Trust today announced three more conservation lands poised for
Forest along the St. Mary’s River. (Nova Scotia Nature Trust photo)
protection on the St. Mary’s River. The announcement came during a community celebration in Sherbrooke.
The Nature Trust’s pending new conservation lands encompass wetlands, a prominent old growth forest, and Acadian floodplain forests. With less than one per cent of Nova Scotia’s old growth forests remaining, and over 90 per cent of floodplain forests lost to clearing, the Nature Trust stated this is a conservation win, both for biodiversity and for resilience against climate change impacts.
The Nature Trust secured a deal to purchase the three properties, as part of a community donation by the Oland family and collaboration with the Historic Sherbrooke Village Development Society. The transfer to the Nature Trust is expected to finalize in the next several weeks.
The Nature Trust launched the St Mary’s River Conservation Legacy Campaign in 2006 to protect private lands identified as top provincial conservation priorities.
A release from the Nature Trust states this comes as welcome news to the local community and many others who cherish the river and view it as an irreplaceable part of their history, culture, way of life and future.