Environment advocates in the Algoma district want more protection for lands used by at-risk species

Environmental activists in Sault Ste. Marie and Garden River First Nation are raising awareness for unprotected areas in the district that various species rely on.

The neighbouring communities have teamed up with Ontario Nature and Algoma Highlands Conservancy to map out the northeast region’s most important ecological corridors. 

Once that information is collected, project partners will ramp up advocacy efforts for the protection of those wilderness areas.

These corridors serve as links between natural landscapes — such as forests, wetlands, rivers and lakes — that at-risk animals and birds use to move from one area to another.

But many of these passageways fall on provincial Crown land and aren’t protected from infrastructure developments like pipelines, mining, forestry or powerlines projects. 

Although there are a number of protected areas within the Algoma district already, Garden River First Nation project partner Aaron Jones said there could and should be more. 

“There are a lot of species of cultural importance at risk,” he said. “We need to ensure all of those species will have a home here in the future, despite all the different ways habitats can be damaged within the natural environment.”

Parks Canada, the federal agency responsible for protecting the country’s natural and cultural spaces, identified the St. Mary’s River and Garden River watersheds as among the 23 nationally important ecological corridors.

The agency provided $358,600 in funding to this local project so advocates could scope out these areas, identify their unique needs and come up with strategies that would ensure their longevity. 

The Sault and Garden River area is recognized as sitting in a critical transition zone between the Boreal and deciduous forests along the shores of Lake Superior and Lake Huron.

Jones said the zone contains an abundance of natural pathways that animals rely on to eat and travel, but that not enough acknowledgement for ensuring their protections have been made. 

“For a species like moose for example, it requires a lot of habitat diversity,” Jones explained. “In the summertime, moose like to be in wetlands. As the winter rolls in, they transition from favouring wetlands to favouring forests and highland habitat.”

“We need to ensure that we protect the connection zones between the different habitat types that these moose tend to favour, as well as many other animals.”

The ecological corridors aren’t just beneficial for the animals, Jones said.