Many Nova Scotians are feeling a lot of frustration about the slow movement of the NS Government on its otherwise commendable commitment to “20% Protection by 2030”.
A Case in point: the folks seeking protection for the proposed Ingram River Wilderness Area, the lands all lying within NS Crown lands. They recently (Sep 17, 2024) made an appeal via a post on their Facebook page for citizens to support their concerns about yet another cut proposed/planned within the proposed Ingram River Wilderness Area.
We asked for permission to reproduce the post on nsforestmatters.ca to support their cause, highlight the attributes of the proposed Ingram River Wilderness Area, and to illustrate why we need to identify the remaining 20% lands ASAP. The request was graciously granted. So here it is:
Just over 95 acres of forests are up for harvest in the proposed Ingram River Wilderness Area (IRWA) under a polygon labeled HX021009.
Conceptual Map of proposed Ingram River Wilderness Area. Source
This brings the total amount of proposed harvests within the boundaries of IRWA to over 500 acres in 2024 alone.
Continuing to harvest one of Nova Scotia’s most ideal candidates for protection has to stop. It has to stop now and IRWA needs your help to make this happen. If those who support the designation of IRWA do not speak out these cuts will continue. Nature needs you.
Ingram River Wilderness Area needs you to use your voice and demand that the harvesting of its forests is not appropriate until a Wilderness Assessment can be performed to determine how and where protection will move forward.
Using the link below, visit the Harvest Plans Map Viewer today and submit your comments that you don’t want to see this incredible area harvested until it can be fully assessed for protection.
https://nsgi.novascotia.ca/hpmv/
Comments are due by Tues., October 1, so act now!
You don’t need to have a background in forestry or ecology to weigh in on these important issues. You can simply use your voice to express that you don’t want to see the forests harvested in proposed Wilderness Areas.
It is beyond frustrating to see these harvests continue to stack up within the boundaries of the proposed Ingram River Wilderness Area.
Nova Scotia has legally committed to protecting 20% of our lands and waters by 2030 and Ingram River Wilderness Area is one of the best candidates to further this protection. Having these harvests come up creates an unnecessary conflict between conservation and forestry values that does not need to occur, making the conversation of balancing societal values more difficult than it needs to be.
As a reminder, here are some facts about the 11,000-hectare Ingram River Wilderness Area:
1. It contains the oldest documented forest in the Maritimes with one tree that is 535 years old.
2. There are at least 17 Species at Risk and 46 species of conservation concern known to be within Ingram River Wilderness Area.
3. If the protection of IRWA moves forward over 65% of the area will remain open for forestry and other industrial uses.
4. Representing over 50,000 members, the Ingram River Wilderness Area proposal is supported by over 50 businesses and organizations including the Confederacy of Mainland Mi’kmaq and the Tourism Industry Association of Nova Scotia.
5. The area has been identified as core habitat for Mainland Moose, meaning that the protection of this land is essential for the long-term survival of the species.
6. Protection means that the area will continue to facilitate a wide and diverse range of societal benefits including:
– hiking
– hunting
– fishing
– increased capacity to fight climate change
– increased capacity to reduce forest fire risks
-camping
-ATVing on designated routes
We find that we continue to ask ourselves why this area is not already protected?
What more is needed?
What is needed is for people like you to declare your support and demand that Nova Scotia follows its own laws in protecting 20% of the province in the next 6 years.
Let’s start with Ingram River Wilderness Area.
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Comment by NN:
Ecological forestry starts with the recognition that some areas should not be cut at all. They are of far more value protected than logged. This is true even when the prescription is a High Retention one.
I have spent a little time in this area. It is core habitat for the endangered Mainland Moose. Moose sign is found throughout this area. That alone is argument enough for leaving this area alone. But in fact it has almost all the attributes established as criteria for selecting areas for protection in the Collaborative Protected Areas Strategy published in December 2023.
I find it baffling that harvest plans of any sort are being considered for an area that so obviously should be included in the 20% this government is required to protect by 2030. The Ingram River Wilderness Area is so well suited for protection that it should be included in the tranche that must be designated by March 2026 in order to meet the 15% interim target established in the Canada-Nova Scotia Nature Agreement signed last year.
Then perhaps there would be an end to these persistent attempts to degrade an area of such high conservation value. Is NRR going to collaborate with ECC in protecting 20% of our province or are you going to get in the way as much as possible?
Advancing harvest plans for the proposed Ingram River Wilderness Area certainly looks more like obstruction than collaboration.