The Nature Conservancy of Canada is in the process of exploring its latest gift of land in central Newfoundland.

Montreal-based forestry company Domtar, donated the land – the largest donation to NCC in all of Atlantic Canada.

The parcels of land are located near the Southwest Gander River and Gander Lake, close to the communities of Glenwood and Appleton.

The Nature Conservancy’s NL program director Piers Evans says in the weeks and months ahead NCC will be explore the area to get a better sense of the local ecosystems and the species that live there.

Evans says the central region of the island is “underrepresented” in the island’s network of existing protected areas.

He says only about three per cent of the central Newfoundland forest ecoregion is protected. He says this project will help chip away at those numbers, and they believe it could become a “representative protected area” for the region.