Witnessing the power of nature on PEI
Ambassadors' Circle members, guests and Atlantic conservation team members exploring St. Peters Harbour and Lake Run Nature Reserve in PEI (Photo by NCC)
NCC’s Ambassadors’ Circle members witnessed the healing power of nature during a September field trip that included NCC’s first property on Prince Edward Island.
Ten current and former NCC volunteers and their guests, as well as Stephen McCullough, Vice-president, Strategic Marketing and Development and Francoise Roy, Regional Vice-president, Atlantic Region, spent two days in Canada’s smallest province, exploring the iconic north shore coastline, dunes, marshes and forests that make up the St. Peters Harbour and Lake Run Nature Reserve. The area’s sand dunes served as natural buffers to the shoreline and surrounding community when Hurricane Fiona struck PEI in 2022.
The group saw first-hand how the dunes have reformed and rebuilt themselves with help from anchoring plants, such as marram grass. Since 2005, NCC has championed nature’s power to care for people and communities on the 50-hectare property.
“Our conservation efforts are greatly enhanced through community partnerships, and it was inspiring to have Ambassadors meet our collaborators and witness first-hand how this alliance is fostering a more resilient landscape," says Françoise Roy, Vice-president of NCC in Atlantic Canada.
In addition to mitigating storm impacts, the nature reserve helps protect both wildlife — including ospreys, bald eagles, endangered piping plovers and sanderlings — and nearby coastal communities.
The annual Ambassadors’ Circle field trip also included a tour of the Howe Bay forest, part of the Elizabeth Walsh Nature Reserve. The Elizabeth Walsh Nature Reserve was established by NCC in 2019. Three years ago, NCC acquired the additional Howe Bay property, and NCC and the experts at PEI’s MacPhail Woods Ecological Forestry Project have worked to restore the Wabanaki (Acadian) forest on this once-agricultural land. The area is now home to towering black spruce, trembling aspen, balsam fir, white birch and red maple, which are home to many cavity nesters and builders, including woodpeckers and flying squirrels.
“It was a pleasure to be among kindred spirits and to appreciate NCC’s efforts to protect the remaining natural sites in PEI,” says Diane Griffin, Chair of the Atlantic Regional Advisory Board and an Ambassadors’ Circle member since 2015.
The PEI property tour represents the second time NCC’s Ambassadors’ Circle members have gathered to connect to the land, and to each other. In 2023, the group experienced the majesty of the Prairie grasslands at Alberta’s McIntyre Ranch.
Stay tuned for details of our 2025 field trip.
Click on the link below to view the slide show from this year’s field trip to PEI.
https://www.natureconservancy.ca/assets/documents/nat/ac-pei-2024-EN.pdf
