Earlier this month, the Government of Canada announced that it was providing $2.4 million in funding for the Bruce Trail Conservancy. This contribution, which is in addition to a previous $5 million investment in 2022, comes from Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Nature Smart Climate Solutions Fund.
The Nature Smart Climate Solutions Fund is designed to help Canada meet its target to reduce five to seven megatonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually by 2030 through nature-based climate strategies. The Bruce Trail Conservancy will use the funding for land securement along the Niagara Escarpment.
“The Niagara Escarpment is home to an incredible amount of biodiversity, and it represents the largest continuous stretch of carbon-rich land in southern Ontario,” says Michael McDonald, the CEO of the Bruce Trail Conservancy. “We’re one of the few organizations in Canada that’s protecting near urban nature, which is at the most threat of development, but also has the most biodiversity,” he says. “We have this huge ecological corridor that stretches from Queenston all the way to Tobermory, and we use the Bruce Trail as the tool to get people to fall in love with nature, so they want to help protect it.”
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Nature inherently has properties that help mitigate the effects of climate change, says McDonald. “Nature Smart Climate Solutions really harvests the power of nature to combat climate change.”
While the Bruce Trail Conservancy is most famous for its iconic hiking trail, a lot of resources go towards improving the land around the trail to, “give Mother Nature a helping hand and restore healthy ecosystems,” says McDonald. By planting trees and restoring wetlands, the Conservancy helps these landscapes act as carbon sinks that absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Most recently, “we’ve been doing a lot of tall grass prairie restoration and meadow restoration,” says McDonald. “A lot of people don’t realize that tall grasses sequester quite a lot of carbon thanks to their deep, deep roots.” Tall grass prairies are also critical habitat for species at risk, including the bobolink and the meadowlark.
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McDonald encourages the public to get involved in protecting the nature at their doorstep, whether that’s by supporting the Bruce Trail Conservancy or another environmental charity that’s close to them. The announced funding is matching funding—that means that the Conservancy must raise the same amount to achieve the funding, he says.
Of course, McDonald also wants people to hit the Bruce Trail and discover nature in their neighbourhoods.
“We believe that when people are connected to the natural world, we can achieve better conservation outcomes. People will fight to protect and to care for land that they’re connected to,” he says. “That’s the real power of the Bruce Trail.”
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