Rare piece of Prince Edward County’s undeveloped shoreline protected

The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) and its partners today announced the creation of a new 55-hectare (135-acre) nature reserve near Belleville, Ontario: the Maple Cross Coastline Reserve.

The national not-for-profit, private land conservation organization, in collaboration with the Hastings Prince Edward Land Trust (HPELT), has purchased this important piece of the local conservation puzzle. HPELT was instrumental in helping engage the community and assist with fundraising efforts for this project.

The Maple Cross Coastline Reserve is a collection of undeveloped shoreline, coastal wetland, forest, alvar and grassland habitats. This conservation success was made possible thanks in part to generous match funding from the Maple Cross Fund.

NCC director for central Ontario East Mark Stabb says they are very grateful for the work of volunteers from the Hastings Prince Edward Land Trust, who helped with local fundraising for this acquisition. There has been great local support for this project.

The property contains 16 hectares (40 acres) of rare coastal wetland — part of the Provincially Significant South Bay Coastal Wetland — that provides a buffer against local flooding as well as habitat for migratory birds, turtles, frogs and fish.

The property is located in the Prince Edward County South Shore Important Bird and Biodiversity Area. The site provides vital stopover habitat for a wide variety of migratory birds. The surrounding area is also home to a variety of resident and migratory bat species, such as endangered little brown myotis, along with big brown bat, hoary bat, migratory silver-haired bat and eastern red bat.

This land conservation project was made possible with funding from the Government of Canada, through the Natural Heritage Conservation Program, part of Canada’s Nature Fund. These funds were matched by the MapleCross Fund, Hastings Prince Edward Land Trust, the Gosling Foundation, the Consecon Foundation, Kingston Field Naturalists, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, through the North American Wetlands Conservation Act, and many additional generous donors.

The latest in a series of new protected areas on the south coast of Prince Edward County, the Maple Cross Coastline Reserve adds to a network of conservation lands, which includes the:

• 560-hectare (1,400-acre) Prince Edward Point National Wildlife Area, managed by Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Canadian Wildlife Service;
• 198-hectare (490-acre) Miller Family Nature Reserve, owned and stewarded by HPELT;
• 95-hectare (234-acre) Ducks Unlimited Canada property at Gravelly Point;
• 31-hectare (76-acre) NCC Hudgin-Rose property; and
• 15-hectares (38-acre) Mark Bass Nature Reserve.

National Wildlife Areas are created and managed for the purposes of wildlife conservation, research, and interpretation. Environment and Climate Change Canada’s National Wildlife Areas protect over 2.1 million hectares of habitat with over three-quarters of that area protecting marine habitat.

Submitted by the NCC