Category: Guardians For Nature

For over four decades, Island Nature Trust (INT) has been dedicated to the protection of Prince Edward Island’s natural landscapes and its at-risk plants and wildlife. In July, the organization achieved a significant milestone, surpassing 10,000 acres of protected land, and it’s through the tireless efforts of over 70 dedicated Guardian volunteers that we aim to maintain the ecological integrity of INT’s natural areas.

Chris Brennan, a 70-year-old Islander and one of INT’s 76 Conservation Guardians, shares his motivation for being a Guardian for Nature: “It’s a way to help nature a little and not feel as hopeless and anxious in the face of the major environmental crises we are experiencing.”

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Welcome to the heart of being a Guardian for Nature, where the essence of stewardship intertwines with the call to become custodians of Prince Edward Island’s natural heritage. In the realm of conservation, stewardship is the cornerstone, and being a Guardian for Nature is the embodiment of this duty.

At Island Nature Trust, stewardship is not merely a concept; it’s a way of life—a commitment to safeguarding our Island’s ecological heritage for generations to come. As stewards of over 11,000 acres of land across PEI, we take on the responsibility of monitoring, maintaining, and restoring these treasured ecosystems in perpetuity.

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Although Prince Edward Island is the smallest province in Canada, many call it home. This small Island boasts a large variety of landscapes, forests, rolling fields, rivers, wetlands, and beaches, all of which enhance the Islanders’ attachment to the land. The Island is roughly 85% privately owned, and many of the landowners are long-term residents or visitors with special ties to PEI’s natural beauty. For those with strong ties to the Island and its natural features, it is not hard to see that the pressure of development is decreasing the Island’s natural spaces; and for some, the need to conserve these areas for future generations is evident.

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Many of Prince Edward Island’s residents have strong ties to the Island and would like to see the natural features that define the landscape preserved for future generations to enjoy. There are several options for private landowners who are interested in protecting their properties from future development and conserving the land’s natural features. Island Nature Trust has an “Options booklet” available for people interested in exploring land conservation opportunities. For landowners who want to keep their properties in their family for future generations, but also want to ensure that they are not developed in the future, using a legal mechanism such as the Natural Areas Protection Act (NAPA) might be the right option. Protecting land under the NAPA is a big decision, and big decisions are often paired with several questions. We hope to answer a few of them here today.

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As a direct impact of post-tropical storm Fiona, many of Prince Edward Island’s seed-bearing trees are laying horizontally; fortunately, word is spreading about the benefits of natural decomposition of those trees. Although it will take time for the trees to decompose and make room for new growth, this process will increase the quality of nutrients that are available in the soil. However, for the time being it seems as though many of the trees that have fallen are still rooted to some degree and they are not ready to stop providing. As you walk through the woods you may notice that the downed trees are persisting and continuing to bear flowers that will later become seeds. This makes the seeds of the larger, mature trees more accessible and gives landowners the opportunity to try their hand at harvesting and starting their own native species seed bank. Here are a few quick tips, tricks, and notes to keep in mind if you wish to start growing your own native trees:

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Bank swallows (Riparia riparia) are insectivorous songbirds with a distinctive dark brown breast band separating their brown upperparts from their white underparts. Known for their fast, agile flights, these small passerines can be seen buzzing acrobatically through the air along Prince Edward Island’s coasts during the spring and summertime. Bank swallows nest colonially in sandstone cliffs, till bluffs, high sand dunes, and sand pits. As they fly over nearby meadows, wetlands, and agricultural grasslands they forage on insects like beetles, wasps, bees, flying ants, and mayflies. Based on this feeding strategy, bank swallows belong to a guild of birds called aerial insectivores. Like many aerial insectivores, bank swallow populations in Canada are declining due to threats contributing to the loss of their breeding and foraging habitats: land use changes and associated agricultural intensification, and the practice of shoreline armouring. Bank swallow may also be indirectly impacted by pesticide use, which reduces the abundance and availability of their insect prey. In recognition of these threats, bank swallow was listed as a threatened species under the Species at Risk Act (SARA) in 2017. 

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In 2022 Island Nature Trust (INT) was awarded funding from RBC Foundation through RBC Tech for Nature to implement a technology-based project, “LandSteward: Artificial Intelligence for Island Community Conservation.” Through this project INT collaborated with Korotu Technology Inc. (Korotu) to create, launch, and pilot “LandSteward” – a cutting edge technology utilizing remote sensing data and artificial intelligence driven analysis tools to monitor changes in the landscape – allowing INT to explore ways that technology can help the organization achieve its vision of a network of protected areas across Prince Edward Island.

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As the summer comes to an end, so does our Farmland Birds program. This program is a partnership with the provincial department of Environment, Energy and Climate Action, as well as the federal program for Species at Risk Partnerships on Agricultural Lands.

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