Former Premier Danny Williams has donated a parcel of his family’s land to the Nature Conservancy of Canada.
The 185 acre plot of land, which is located just north of the town of St. Catherines, has been added to the NCC’s Salmonier Nature Reserve.
The organization describes the land as an “ecologically unique habitat for rare lichens.”
(Submitted/David Sturge)
The NCC first approached Williams in September of 2023 about the possibility of rare lichens on his land.
Danny and Elizabeth Williams (Chris Ledrew Photo)
A survey was carried out, which found boreal felt lichen, a rare at risk lichen species. Two other types of at risk lichen (blue felt lichen and frosted glass-whiskers lichen) were found nearby as well.
The organization says the land is also a habitat for other at-risk species, including the red crossbill, the olive-sided flycatcher, the little brown bat, and the northern long-eared bat.
Williams says once the NCC explained what they had found and how they want to protect the rare lichen, he was “more than happy to give them more permanent access.”
