Around 30 people from the region gathered inside the newly renovated Bristol Town Hall, as the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) announced the acquisition of . . .

31 hectares of natural territory in the sector of Bristol.

Part of the Greater Bristol Marsh Area (GBMA), the territory includes more than 150 vulnerable wildlife species and the purchase was largely subsidized by federal and provincial governments, as well as funds from the United States government and the private sector.

The event kicked off with a presentation led by a panel that included NCC Program Director Caroline Gagné, NCC Assistant Vice-President Joel Bonin, Pontiac MP Will Amos and Bristol councillor Greg Graham.

During the presentation, Gagné and Bonin explained which parts of the GBMA the NCC purchased, detailing the positive impacts that the land’s preservation will have for wildlife and residents.

Amos followed up by thanking everyone for attending the event and the importance of protecting the GBMA’s wildlife habitats to preserve its many vulnerable species. He explained that the federal government has been dedicated to support NCC’s efforts in their wildlife preservation initiatives with a contribution of $1.4 billion over five years.

“We have made the most significant international commitment to both green conservation and terrestrial conservation in the history of this country,” he said. “This is something that, as a Member of Parliament, I value highly.”

Graham spoke about how thankful he was for NCC’s recognition of Bristol’s natural environment, noting that, when he was growing up, the area – a formerly booming industrial site in the 1970s – was largely regarded as a waste disposal area rather than one to preserve.

“People used to think the only value this place had was to put other people’s waste on it,” he said.

After the presentation, attendees were invited to migrate outside for a walk down chemin Knox Landing before stopping in a large wetland that is home to a significant population of beavers and Blanding’s turtles.

Gagné said that the purpose of the outdoor excursion was to give attendees a feel for the area’s landscape while diving into what kind of projects NCC will undertake during the summer.

“We do a lot of managing infrastructure for beaver dams, which are shared habitats with Blanding’s turtles,” she said. “We do interventions to facilitate interaction between beavers and humans to avoid having streets flooded.”

Gagné said that seeing the area first-hand is important because it educates people on what kind of species live in their backyards, how they live and what they can do to protect them.

“Sometimes people in Bristol don’t know at what point what they have at home is important,” she said. “It’s important to educate and sensitize them to what they have the chance of seeing that is not necessarily anywhere else.”

According to Gagné, NCC has been actively purchasing land in the GBMA for the last 10 to 15 years with the objective of protecting one of the province’s richest areas in biodiversity.

“When we’re talking about the scale of Quebec, it’s probably in the top three most rich and interesting areas in the province,” she said. “It’s really the crown jewel in terms of biodiversity.

“The way we do our conservation, we plan and we look at every detail to pinpoint where we want to work,” she added. “It was the fact that it was a sector that was very rich, that stood out compared to others. We concentrate our efforts towards exceptional sectors and Bristol is a sector that is more than exceptional.”

Having already purchased 1,100 hectares of land in the GBMA, Gagné said that the extra 31 are significant additions, noting that the goal is to make the area accessible to the community at large while protecting the territory’s native species – some of which are extremely rare.

“It’s so people who want can come use the trails for hiking, educate themselves to the nature, listen to birds, simply take some air which is very beneficial for health, have access to the river for fishing,” she said.

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