The federal government is spending more than $13 million to help protect a vast area of northern Ontario’s taiga forest and peatlands. The project, led by the Nature Conservancy of Canada, will conserve more than 81,000 hectares of land south of Kapuskasing. The $64-million initiative is supported by funding from the federal and provincial governments, foundations, businesses and private donors. According to the conservancy, the area stores more than 30 million tonnes of carbon, which means protecting it is important for climate change mitigation and environmental health. “The boreal forest is, you know, responsible for sequestering carbon, for purifying our water, for purifying the air we breathe,” said Eric Cleland, director of conservation for Ontario with the Nature Conservancy of Canada. “And that has impacts not only for residents in northern Ontario, but all across the provinces.” Beyond storing carbon, the forest and peatlands provide important freshwater resources and wildlife habitat. Protecting the landscape could also help communities downstream prepare for extreme weather, including flooding and wildfires. “The (more) we protect our natural or green infrastructure, the better we are setting up flood attenuation for communities downstream,” said Cleland. Cleland said conserving natural areas can also help minimize the impacts of wildfires, particularly during increasingly busy fire seasons. The project will also involve engagement with nearby First Nations to discuss long-term access to the land and potential collaboration in its stewardship. The federal investment supports Canada’s goal of conserving 30 per cent of the country’s lands and waters by 2030.
