The Couchiching Conservancy has acquired over 700 acres of habitat-rich land.   It sits alone one of southern Ontario’s wild rivers.

The property includes over 4 kilometres of shoreline along the Black River.   This area is home to a number of species which are at risk, such as the Blanging’s turtle a species threatened by the loss or fragmenting of habitat, motor vehicles, and raccoons and foxes that prey on eggs, and the eastern hog-nosed snake, threatened by habitat loss and persecution by people.

It’s an important acquisition, because it creates a large corridor of wilderness which enables species to move from one area to another.   As the climate changes, this will be all the more vital for them.

Hundreds of donors enabled this purchase to happen, and there was also a major contribution from Ottawa’s Natural Areas Conservation Programme.    

This programme is a private-public partnership which aims to conserve land across southern Canada, and federal funds are matched by contributions raised by the Nature Conservancy of Canada and its partners who manage the program 

Here's more information about the Couchichong Conservancy: