National conservation group launches largest single private project in northern Ontario
The largest single private conservation project in Canadian history is about to get underway in northern Ontario.
On Friday morning, members of the National Conservancy of Canada (NCC), alongside both Ontario and Canada's environment ministers, launched the Boreal Wildlands Project, located near Hearst.
"This year we're marking Earth Day with a special announcement -- we're calling it 'big, bold and Boreal," said Catherine Grenier, president of the NCC.
"It's certainly big and bold. It's the largest project that the Nature Conservancy of Canada has ever undertaken."
The project takes in more than 100 lakes and 1,300 kilometres of rivers, streams and shoreline. It also includes a wealth of forests.
The project is roughly 1,500 square kilometres in size. Grenier said that's an area that's three times the size of Montreal, 12 times the size of Vancouver and twice the size of Toronto.
"We're working at a record pace now to conserve the natural areas that are a life support system," she said.
The lands are formerly forestry lands that forestry giant Domtar decided to sell at a discounted rate to the NCC. It's since raised about two-thirds of the $46-million project costs and has about $13 million left to go.
"We've managed this land to source wood for our pulp and paper mills in Ontario," said Domtar senior vice-president Rob Melton.
"However, we haven't harvested from this land in over a decade and we felt the opportunity to participate in this project with NCC was more value for Domtar for conservation than it was for future harvesting."
The Nature Conservancy of Canada has launched what it says is the largest single private conservation project in Canadian history. The Boreal Wildlands project, located near Hearst, will see roughly 1,500 square kilometres protected, an area twice the size of Toronto.
Roughly 800 kilometres of the land is already protected and the NCC has about 650 kilometres left to go, which will be added later this year.
The charity is still determining what 'protected' will mean and exactly what will and won't be allowed on the land.
"We've been speaking with the Town of Hearst about things like opportunities for eco-tourism opportunities on the site and, obviously, working with our partners like Constance Lake First Nation to speak about honouring their treaty rights and accommodating access to these lands," said the NCC's Krystyn Ferguson.
Ferguson said they are in the midst of coming up with a property management plan.
The fact this is a private-sector investment is something that hasn't escaped the notice of the provincial and federal environment ministers.
Canadian Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Stephen Guilbeault said what's required when it comes to climate change is an 'all-hands-on-deck' approach.
"Clearly private lands are also part of the question and the Nature Conservancy, with its partners at the local level and all the way to the federal government and private companies, plays a very key role in helping Canada reach its ambitious goal of protecting 25 per cent of our lands and oceans by 2025," said Guilbeault.
David Piccini, Ontario Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks, said government and the private sector working together has a much bigger impact.
"What excites me is that we're seeing an unprecedented level of collaboration and I think it's no better exemplified than through today's example," Piccini said.
He said the province would have more to announce on expanding provincial parks later.
According to the NCC, the carbon storage on the project is equivalent to the average lifetime emissions of three-million cars.
The project is expected to help shelter species at risk, including woodland caribou, lynx, black bear, wolf and moose. It'll also be a nesting ground for migratory species, including the Canada warbler and the olive-sided flycatcher.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.