Ontario government creates new conservation reserve in Prince Edward County

The provincial government announced the creation of a new conservation reserve in Prince Edward County on Monday.

The first of its kind in over a decade, according to the province, the new Monarch Point Conservation Reserve will preserve and protect thousands of acres of land along the county’s south shore.

“I am so proud to announce officially today, after countless years of advocacy and effort of all of you, Ontario’s first conservation reserve in over a decade, the Monarch Point Conservation Reserve,” said Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks David Piccini in Monday’s press conference.

The reserve now spans 4,000 acres of wetlands, shoreline and forest.

The area is home to countless at-risk species, including turtles and several butterflies — including the monarch.

The area was once controversially slated for a wind turbine development.

Residents that organized to protect the environmentally-sensitive land are pleased with the announcement.

Some are hoping for more recognition of the sensitive biodiverse area.

“This is a small step — there’s so much more we could easily do,” says Richard Copple, a member of the Point to Point PEC Foundation.

“There are big things like UNESCO biosphere — there’s one not far from here in Gananoque.”

Next steps for the new reserve involve developing a land management plan, balancing preservation and sustainable recreational use.

“There needs to be very specific criteria outlined, and there needs to be monitoring to ensure that that criteria is adhered to,” says Elizabeth Churcher, a member of Quinte Field Naturalists.

Some of that land management plan could be aided by the work already completed by the Nature Conservancy of Canada.

Previously, the NCC had received private funding to produce a natural heritage study of the lands that now form the Monarch Point Conservation Reserve.

“Mapping habitats, mapping where invasive species are that are threatening the survival of monarchs, which the reserve is named after,” says Mark Stabb, the Central Ontario Program Director for the NCC.

“Also mapping trails and so on, so that Ontario parks now, as they work with community-developed property management plans, will have all that information.”