Parks Canada to acquire 1,325 hectares to expand Bruce Peninsula National Park
TORONTO — Parks Canada says it has reached an agreement to acquire a privately owned parcel of land in Ontario’s Georgian Bay area to expand the Bruce Peninsula National Park.
The 1,324-hectare property called Driftwood Cove includes 6.5 kilometres of uninterrupted shoreline and is home to at least 10 federally listed species at risk and dozens of ecologically, geologically and culturally significant cave systems, the agency said.
“This is an example of our commitment to making sure that we do right by the environment,” federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna told a news conference in Toronto. “Canadians value our land, we value our animals and we need to take action.”
The funds for the purchase of the cove are coming from the 2018 federal budget, which included $1.3 billion to protect nature, parks, and wild spaces, McKenna said Wednesday. Canada has international commitments to conserve at least 17 per cent of its land and freshwater by 2020. So far, only 10.5 per cent is protected.