NORTHERN ONTARIO — The federal government will contribute more than $13 million to a conservation project protecting over 81,400 hectares of taiga forest, wetlands and peatlands south of Kapuskasing.

Environment and Climate Change Canada announced the federal funding Tuesday. The project’s combined value is $64 million, including support from Ottawa, Ontario, businesses, foundations and private donors.

A large boreal conservation area

The Nature Conservancy of Canada is leading the project. The protected landscape covers an area the federal government describes as roughly 1.3 times the size of Toronto.

The announcement says the forests and peatlands hold more than 30 million tonnes of stored carbon. It compares that total with the annual emissions of about 34 million passenger vehicles, but that comparison describes carbon already stored in the landscape rather than an immediate annual emissions reduction.

The area also provides habitat for wildlife, including species at risk such as the red-headed woodpecker and bobolink.

Federal and provincial funding

Ottawa’s contribution comes through the Natural Heritage Conservation Program. Ontario announced a separate $2-million contribution to the same project in August as part of its Greenlands Conservation Partnership.

The October announcement confirms new federal participation in a conservation effort already supported by the province and private partners. It does not describe the land as a new provincial or national park.

The federal government says the broader Natural Heritage Conservation Program has attracted more than $1.1 billion in matching contributions and helped protect nearly 966,000 hectares since it began.

Part of Canada’s 2030 target

Canada has committed to conserving 30 per cent of its lands and waters by 2030. The government presented the northern Ontario project as progress toward that target ahead of the COP17 biodiversity conference in Yerevan, Armenia.

Long-term protection of peatlands matters because waterlogged soils can store carbon for centuries. Disturbing them can release greenhouse gases, while intact boreal wetlands also support flood regulation and wildlife habitat.

Sources: Environment and Climate Change Canada, October 13; Government of Ontario, August 13; Nature Conservancy of Canada: peatlands.

Lead image: Flag of Ontario via Wikimedia Commons, public domain. Illustrative image; not a photograph of the protected landscape.