A property that features fescue fields, forests and wetlands close to Waterton Lakes Nationwide Park in southern Alberta has been bought by the Nature Conservancy of Canada.
The group mentioned Tuesday the 1.5-square-mile property between the nationwide park and Twin Butte, Alta., is its latest conservation web site.
“Waterton Lakes Nationwide Park is thought for its unimaginable wildlife, however these species depend on an space a lot bigger than the park itself all year long,” Tom Lynch-Staunton, regional vice-president for The Nature Conservancy of Canada, mentioned in mentioned a press release. .
“By conserving this property, we guarantee it should proceed to offer habitats and protected motion routes for these unimaginable animals.”
The Nature Conservancy of Canada mentioned the property would grow to be a part of the 130 sq. kilometers of personal conservation lands often called the Waterton Park Entrance, which is now about 75 p.c preserved.
“This property is simply one other piece of that greater puzzle,” mentioned Sean Feagan, an Alberta spokesman for Nature Conservancy of Canada.
“It is a win for nature.”
Land conservation within the space, he mentioned, is vital as a result of it has a singular and comparatively intact ecosystem that gives a hall for wildlife equivalent to grizzly bears and elk.
“That is the place the grasslands go proper up in opposition to the mountains,” Feagan mentioned. “There aren’t a ton of foothills, so it is geographically and geologically a singular a part of the province.
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“So, you get a mixture of grassland species and montane species dwelling collectively.”
He mentioned mammals equivalent to moose, deer and moose congregate within the areas outdoors the nationwide park in winter to feed on grasses equivalent to fescue, which have excessive dietary worth.
“It is a vital winter meals for these animals,” he mentioned.
The Nature Conservancy of Canada mentioned the protected space will proceed for use for cattle grazing whereas being managed in a approach that enables nature to thrive.
© 2023 The Canadian Press
