SASKATOON -- A new conservation site in the Upper Qu’Appelle Natural Area, near Buffalo Pound Lake, has been announced by the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) and its partners.
During a virtual announcement on Monday, the not-for-profit land conservation organization revealed that 866 hectares of native grasslands and seven kilometres of shoreline along the north shore of Buffalo Pound Lake has been purchased.
The area is home to many plants and animals, as well as wildlife listed under Canada’s Species at Risk Act, such as Sprague’s pipit, bobolink, Baird’s sparrow, the northern leopard frog and the American badger, NCC said in a news release.
Approximately one-quarter of Saskatchewan’s population receives drinking water from the grasslands, according to the organization .
"By working with partners like the Nature Conservancy of Canada to protect important ecosystems like this one, we’re ensuring that wildlife and communities can thrive now and in the future. ,” Terry Duguid, Member of Parliament for Winnipeg South and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change said in the release.
“NCC’s Buffalo Pound property is a beautiful area that contains native grasslands along a premium shoreline. Conserving these grasslands is one of the most important things we can do to help the plants and animals that live there, as well as filter the air we breathe and provide quality drinking water in southern Saskatchewan,” Cameron Wood, Director of Conservation for the Nature Conservancy of Canada in Saskatchewan, said.
In the coming weeks, Conservancy staff are expected to take an inventory of all the plant and animal species on the property, to help develop a management plan to help protect the species and conserve their habitat.
