Large parcel of land near Bancroft now protected

Hastings Wildlife Junction is a reality.

The Nature Conservancy of Canada says 50 square kilometres of land south of Bancroft is now protected.

It’s part of a major wildlife corridor home to eastern wolf, black bear, moose, pine marten, elk, endangered Blanding’s turtles and rare birds.

Hastings Wildlife Junction. (Photo: submitted/Nature Conservancy of Canada, Chelsea Marcantonio)

NCC program manager Kristyn Ferguson says finding a parcel of land this large in southern Ontario is rare.

“And so what we’re really doing is conservation at scale. We’re conserving landscapes. We’re connecting up existing protected areas. And we’re building ecological corridors on the landscape for wildlife, for movement of species, for resilience against climate change.”

A large portion of the land was donated by Ben Samann, founder of Land’escapes, a private organization that works to protect and conserve land in south-central Ontario.

Hastings Wildlife Junction. (Photo: submitted/Nature Conservancy of Canada, Chelsea Marcantonio)

Ferguson says there was plenty of interest in the project as soon as they announced last fall they were fundraising to complete the deal.

“So we did have a lot of people show up with donations also and really significant contributions from the federal government through the Natural Heritage Conservation Program and the provincial government through the Greenlands Conservation Partnership.”

Ferguson says while there are some trails available for use now, they will take the next year or so to fully prepare the land for public use.

“But what we’re gonna be trying to figure out through our property management planning process and discussions with the community about how they would like to see the property set up for public use is are there safe places for parking? Are there trails? How are we gonna maintain those? What kind of experiences are we gonna be able to offer visitors?”

There is never any charge to access NCC’s nature reserves.

“The majority of NCC properties open to the public for low-impact pedestrian use like hiking, bird-watching, cross-country skiing and otherwise, sort of more special uses like limited use for hunting is by permission only.”

Ferguson says these 5,000 hectares are only the beginning as their ultimate goal is to protect 8,000 hectares of intact forest and wetlands.

The NCC continues to accept donations towards the next phase of the project.

Click here for more information about the Hastings Wildlife Junction or to donate.