Our Pu’tlaqne’katik focus area is a sanctuary for endangered Blanding’s Turtles, and we’re delighted to add 38 acres to this growing network!

The Bull Moose Meadow (Triangle) property represents a strategically important addition to the Nature Trust’s Pu’tleqne’katik focus area in Queens County. The Nature Trust has made significant progress in this focus area and currently protects 13 properties across five assemblages: Bull Moose Meadow, Pleasant River, Deep Brook, Shinglemill Brook, and Barren Meadow. Collectively, these properties encompass over 350 hectares and protect approximately 2,600 meters of freshwater shoreline. This triangle-shaped parcel fills in a gap of private land at the north end of the 2,600-hectare Pu’tlaqne’katik Wilderness Area, creating a key habitat corridor within a historically fragmented landscape. It contributes to a contiguous network of protected lands that support wetland-dependent species and species-at-risk.

The newly protected property provides critical habitat for Blanding’s Turtle (listed federally as Endangered) and Eastern Ribbonsnake (listed federally as Threatened), as well as other species of conservation concern including Olive-sided Flycatcher (federally listed as Special Concern).

The property contains diverse forested and wetland habitats, including a section of brook that flows through from another Nature Trust-protected property. Wetlands are particularly important for Blanding’s Turtles, who not only brumate (the reptile version of “hibernate”) under winter wetland mud but wander from wetland to wetland throughout the year in search of safe feeding and nesting sites. A Blanding’s Turtle can make use of more than a dozen different wetlands spanning over three kilometers over the course of a year. Protecting wetlands, and in particular linking protected wetlands together, gives Blanding’s Turtles and other wetland-seeking species safe passage to roam.

This project was undertaken with the financial support of the Government of Canada through the federal Department of Environment and Climate Change’s Priority Places for Species at Risk Program.

This project was also made possible by the Waltons Trust.

Our thanks as well for generous support from the Nova Scotia Crown Share Land Legacy Trust, a critical source of land securement funding for Nova Scotia’s land trusts.