A rare plant in Canada that grows only on a 25-kilometer-wide island in southwestern Nova Scotia is protected.
The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) has just purchased and protected a small island in Lobster Bay, near Yarmouth, which is home to the Baccharis halimifolia , a perennial that grows in the wild.
The organization acquired the land from the owner, John Brett.
There are some 3,000 rare shrub plants on this island, which are listed on the Canadian Species at Risk Registry.
From a height of one to three meters, it presents tiny bright white flowers. It blooms at the end of the summer and loses its leaves in autumn.
The Eastern Baccharis grows on the east coast of North America, from the Mexican state of Veracruz to the US state of Massachusetts.
The small island of Lobster Bay, a quarter square kilometer, is the only place in Canada where it is found.
On the other hand, the plant is banned by the European Union, which considers it to be harmful in Europe.
An intact salt marsh protected in Prince Edward Island
The Nature Conservancy of Canada (CDC) recently acquired 57 hectares at Abrams Village, at the mouth of the Haldimand River in Prince Edward Island, protecting a coastal forest and 20 hectares of salt marsh intact, a rare habitat in this province depending on the organism.
CDC points out that 60% of the salt marshes present before European settlement have disappeared today, as a result of the drying up of wetlands and human development.
Salt marshes are among the most productive ecosystems on the planet and the most biologically valuable, according to CDC. They are home to a great diversity of birds, plants and marine species.
