OTTAWA — The largest private land conservation project in Canadian history is unfolding in northern Ontario.
The Nature Conservancy of Canada spent the last year negotiating the purchase of 1,450 square kilometres of the boreal forest near Hearst, Ont., from pulp and paper giant Domtar.
The company hasn’t logged in the area for more than a decade and began working with Nature Conservancy in January 2021 to make a deal for the land.
Now named the Boreal Wildlands, the region is twice as big as the entire city of Toronto, and will be protected from industrial development including logging and mining.
“In the face of biodiversity loss and climate change, nature offers us very real solutions,” Nature Conservancy president Catherine Grenier said in an online news conference announcing the purchase Friday.
The Boreal Wildlands is home to 100 lakes, 1,300 kilometres of rivers and streams and is a critical habitat for many of Canada’s most iconic species including black bears, wolves, moose and the endangered woodland caribou.
It is also a massive natural carbon sink, storing the equivalent of the lifetime emissions from three million vehicles.
“Boreal Wildlands, as you’ve seen, is a heaven for biodiversity,” said Grenier. “But it’s also a very important natural defence against climate change. The vast forests, the rich soil, and the deep peatlands form a large carbon sink. Conservation keeps carbon in the ground, and the land will continue to absorb more greenhouse gas emissions over time.”
The conservancy intends to create a carbon offset market with the area, selling carbon credits to companies and individuals trying to offset their own emissions. That money will contribute to protecting the area, and to other projects.
The $46-million conservation project is supported by both the federal and Ontario governments, as well as private donations to the Nature Conservancy.
It will contribute to the federal government’s promise to protect 25 per cent of land and marine areas by 2025. Canada has nearly 10 million square kilometres of land and 5.8 million square kilometres of marine areas.
As of the end of 2021, 1.3 million square kilometres of land was considered protected, or 13.5 per cent. Almost 800,000 square kilometres of marine regions are protected, or 13.9 per cent.
“We understand that protecting and conserving nature is one of the most important steps we can take to curb biodiversity loss, while also fighting climate change and advancing reconciliation,” said federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault. “Nature is the glue that binds all these important causes together.”
Ontario Environment Minister David Piccini said protecting natural areas is critical to conserving natural diversity “building resiliency against the effects of climate change.”
Rob Melton, senior vice-president at Domtar, said the company has owned the land for more than 50 years and logging projects have supplied Domtar’s pulp and paper mills in Ontario.
“We felt like the opportunity to participate in this project with NCC was actually of more value to Domtar and utilizing this land for conservation than it was for future harvesting,” he said.
The Nature Conservancy is now working on a property management plan to determine access to the wildlands for outdoor recreational use.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 22, 2022.
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.
Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”
However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.
McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.
He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.
The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
