More than 2,500 hectares of public municipal land around the province are now recognized as protected areas, according to the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) and Newfoundland and Labrador’s Stewardship Association of Municipalities.

Corner Brook, Indian Bay, Elliston and Whitbourne are among the communities participating in the first phase of the project.

Piers Evans, the NCC’s program director in Newfoundland and Labrador, says to put the size of the land into perspective, 2,600 hectares is a little larger than the Town of Bay Roberts.

He says protected areas do not mean the land is fenced off without access.

Evans explains that it’s about controlling development and resource extraction activities on the protected lands. He says certain forms of development that are low-impact on the land and conducive to the conservation of biodiversity will still be permitted, as a number of areas have community trails within them.

The NCC is also exploring other areas around the province to protect, as it’s still early in the assessment process, such as municipal drinking water supply areas.

He says protected areas are not complete no-go zones, given some include municipal infrastructure that must be accessed.

“It’s just that the impact and footprint that human activities are going to have on the area are going to be managed effectively and are going to be such that in the grand scheme of the overall area, it’s going to leave a relatively small imprint on the landscape,” said Evans.