The Long Point Basin Land Trust has nearly tripled the size of its Spring Arbour Farm Nature Reserve by acquiring an adjacent 95-acre property that has already undergone significant restoration by the previous owners, who donated a portion of the land through the federal Ecological Gifts Program.
The former tobacco farm has been restored to tallgrass prairie and black oak savanna habitat to support a wide range of native plant and wildlife species., To date, 31 species at risk have been observed on the property. About 25 per cent of the site contains significant natural woodlands and Venison Creek, a high-quality cold-water trout stream, runs through the southwest corner of the property.
The property is part of a Carolinian Canada Big Picture Core Natural Area and the Long Point Walsingham Forest Priority Place. It is also within an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area as identified by Birds Canada.
“This acquisition fits with our strategy of creating larger natural corridors or blocks by connecting already protected lands such as our own Reserve to the west and two large properties owned by the Nature Conservancy of Canada to the east and south” said Rick Levick, LPBLT executive director. “It’s a great addition to our popular Spring Arbour Farm Reserve with its varied habitat and maintained trails.”
Canada’s Ecological Gifts Program provides a way for Canadians with ecologically sensitive land to protect nature and leave a legacy for future generations. It offers significant tax benefits to landowners who donate land to a qualified recipient such as the LPBLT that will ensure that the land’s biodiversity and environmental heritage are conserved in perpetuity.
“We are very grateful to the previous owners for their significant donation of land and will continue their restoration work to protect the high number of species found there,” said Levick. “That’s why we plan to manage the property as a research site with limited public access.”
This expansion of the Spring Arbour Farm Nature Reserve increases the LPBLT’s lands protected for biodiversity conservation to 1,050 acres (425 hectares).
