Turkey Point Marsh property acquired as protected land

A 167-hectare property consisting of forest and marsh in the Turkey Point Marsh complex and Long Point Inner Bay has been acquired by the Nature Conservancy of Canada.

Article content

The property borders on other conservation lands in the vicinity enabling the NCC to expand its network of protected lands.

The protections will prevent any sort of development such as lakefront communities and recreational eco-tourism.

“It’s an internationally significant wetland,” said Kristyn Richardson, NCC program director for southwestern Ontario. “It does have a recent history of peat and black muck harvesting, so a continued extraction of that could result in a significant loss of natural hydrology of the property, or fragmentation and loss of habitat.”

Richardson said both the Long Point Inner Bay and the Turkey Point Marsh complex are important stop-over areas for migratory birds to land after crossing the Great Lakes and feature some of the highest quality waterfowl habitats in all of Ontario.

Article content

“They need suitable places with habitat for feeding when they make land again,” she explained. “So, making sure that these wetlands and marsh areas along the coast are there and are available to them is important.”

Richardson noted that wetlands act like a giant sponge to hold, absorb, and replenish water that would otherwise flow directly into Lake Erie that is already experiencing high water levels.

Phragmites – an invasive grass found in wetlands across the country – are present on the Turkey Point Marsh wetland complex. A significant reduction has been achieved through a control program led by the NCC since 2018, reducing the presence of phragmites to sparse patches.

“One of the first things we do when we acquire a property is a baseline inventory,” said the program director. “Staff are working on that right now to determine everything that’s on the property, with details of the species and habitats that are there, and what some of the threats are.”

Article content

The NCC works with people, communities, businesses and governments to protect the country’s most important natural areas through large-scale, permanent land conservation as it seeks solutions to biodiversity loss and climate change.

The Turkey Point Marsh complex is home to more than 45 provincially, nationally, or globally rare plants and animals that live in an area that boasts one of the highest densities of rare and endangered species in Canada.

The acquired land was previously owned by a local, private hunting club. The purchase was made possible with support from many private donors and foundations, the federal government’s Natural Heritage Conservation Program, part of Canada’s Nature Fund, and the provincial government’s Greenlands Conservation Partnership program.

“The Long Point area has a long history of over 150 years of private hunting clubs,” Richardson noted. “They do have a conservation ethic and have done a lot. There’s a long legacy of protecting some of these significant wetlands, so we’re excited to carry on that legacy through the purchase of this Turkey Point Marsh property.”

[email protected]

Article content