NSWWT Secures Landmark Easement in Lunenburg County
Landmark easement will preserve 82.7 acres of mature woodland through NSWWT’s innovative Hemlock Program.
The Nova Scotia Working Woodlands Trust (NSWWT) has reached a milestone in its mission to preserve the province’s working forests by securing its first easement. The landmark easement will preserve 82.7 acres of mature woodland in Lunenburg County.
This easement was signed through NSWWT's Hemlock Conservation Program – the first of its kind in the province – which supports landowners (or ‘land stewards’) to protect hemlocks threatened by the invasive hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA). Under the program, HWA will be controlled with targeted insecticide applications in collaboration with the Medway Community Forest Cooperative.
“Signing our first easement is a considerable milestone for the Trust,” said Mary Jane Rodger, Executive Director of NSWWT. “It protects the ecological integrity of the land and establishes a new partnership with the land steward - one where we can support each other to achieve the best outcomes for the forest considering challenges like HWA. Keeping carefully stewarded woodlands intact will always be a win-win for our rural communities and the environment.”
With over 65% of land privately owned in Nova Scotia, land stewards play a vital role in conservation. As the first land trust in the province to offer working forest easements, NSWWT empowers land stewards to preserve the ecological health and biodiversity of their woodlots while still allowing ecological forestry practices. These easements offer an innovative alternative to traditional conservation, allowing responsible forest management while prohibiting practices like clear-cutting and subdivision.
With HWA spreading eastwards, there has been significant interest in the Trust’s HWA program, and the Trust’s current funding allocation is nearly two-thirds full. At this time, NSWWT is focusing outreach on land stewards with exceptional old-growth hemlock forests in Lunenburg, Annapolis and Kings Counties, using a data-based prioritization tool to select potential partners.
Participating land stewards must have a keen interest in the concept of an easement and the conditions that come with it. With a current cap of 600 acres, the Trust is actively seeking new funding to accommodate more land stewards committed to preserving Nova Scotia’s unique and irreplaceable woodlands.
About the Nova Scotia Working Woodlands Trust: NSWWT aims to uphold the long-term stewardship of working woodlands in Nova Scotia, through ecological forestry and conservation. Learn more at https://www.nsworkingwoodlandstrust.org/
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Media Contact:
Ellen Riopelle
Outreach and Communications Coordinator
ellen@nsworkingwoodlandstrust.org