The Nature Trust has been selected as one of only two projects in North America to receive major funding support this year from the Michelin Corporate Foundation. They have recognized the Nature Trust’s outstanding history of successful land conservation with an award of $300,000 in support of the Twice the Wild campaign, which aims to double the land the Nature Trust protects and stewards across the province by 2025. Thanks to the campaign’s generous matching funds, the Michelin Corporate Foundation’s donation will also leverage an additional $1.2 million to save nature across Nova Scotia. 

“Michelin has deep roots in Nova Scotia, and we recognize one of the things that makes this province unique is the access to these wonderful natural areas, right in our own backyards,” says Andrew Mutch, President, Michelin North America (Canada) Inc. “This year Michelin is celebrating 50 years of manufacturing in Nova Scotia and, along with the Michelin Corporate Foundation, we’re pleased to mark this milestone with a gift to the Nature Trust. The work they’re doing will ensure that our employees, their families, and all Nova Scotians can enjoy these spaces for generations to come.” 

The Michelin Corporate Foundation’s selection represents the first major international funding for the campaign. It will be pivotal in helping the Nature Trust ensure that at least 30,000 acres of irreplaceable natural areas are protected, forever. “We’re deeply honoured to receive the Foundation’s support,” says Bonnie Sutherland, Executive Director of the Nova Scotia Nature Trust. “Protecting nature in Nova Scotia has effects that go far beyond the borders of our province, and this recognition demonstrates the international significance of land conservation work like ours.”

Created in 2014, the Michelin Corporate Foundation supports innovative and socially committed projects in the countries where Michelin is present. They select projects that support local communities in five primary areas of work: sustainable mobility, sport and health, education and the community, protecting the environment, and heritage and the arts. Moreover, the Foundation supports projects that are consistent with its activities and close to its staff and its locations.

Through Twice the Wild, the Nature Trust has already protected well-loved areas like the Blue Mountain Wilderness Connector and natural treasures like the critical bird habitat found in the Tusket Islands. Other areas targeted for protection include expanding signature land projects in the Mabou highlands, along the iconic St. Mary’s River, and throughout the 100 Wild Islands. The campaign will also add brand new protected areas, including coastal habitats and islands, rare gypsum and old forest sites, and habitat for endangered wildlife. The targeted lands are not only ecologically important and diverse, but provide space for people to explore and enjoy the outdoors.