Salmonier Nature Reserve
NCC staff Lanna Campbell looks out over the Salmonier River (Photo by Trevor Nickerson)
The Nature Conservancy of Canada’s (NCC’s) 485-hectare Salmonier Nature Reserve provides critical habitat for many at-risk species. With your help, we can double the amount of land protected and cared for here.
Only an hour’s drive south of St. John’s, the nature reserve’s landscape comprises a combination of underlying geology and moist climate, making it an important location for a high diversity of lichens. Lichens have many uses: as food and nesting materials for animals, as indicators of air quality and even for use in some medicines. Some of the lichens found in the area are found almost nowhere else in the world. Lichen studies on NCC’s Salmonier Nature Reserve confirmed the presence of boreal felt lichen and blue felt lichen — both are species at risk.
The Salmonier River is known by locals and visitors alike for its large runs of wild Atlantic salmon. By conserving the land along its riverbanks and uplands, we can protect the health of the river system so it can continue doing what it does well: providing habitat for local wildlife as well as hosting anglers from around the world.
A variety of wildlife can be found at the Salmonier Nature Reserve, including peregrine falcon, short-eared owl and red fox along with species at risk, such as red crossbill and olive-sided flycatcher.
The Salmonier River Nature Reserve can be accessed from a small road off Highway 90, in Mount Carmel-Mitchells Brook-St. Catherines.