The Nature Conservancy of Canada says it has acquired 814 square kilometres of boreal forest and peatlands south of Kapuskasing, Ontario, for protection from industrial development.
The area, larger than Toronto, previously belonged to a company selling carbon offset credits, according to an October 13 Canadian Press report published by Global News.
Ottawa says it is contributing $13 million toward the project’s $64-million total, which combines public and private funding. The federal contribution is part of that total.
Protection does not necessarily mean the end of all recreational use. The conservancy says some day-use activities, including hiking and paddling, may continue where the landscape is healthy and vulnerable species are absent, subject to provincial law. That is conditional access, rather than a blanket invitation to use the entire property.
The announcement precedes the following week’s United Nations biodiversity summit. For readers following conservation commitments, the concrete development is the acquisition of this particular landscape; the report does not quantify how much it closes Canada’s wider conservation gap.
