and they make some people happy especially when they come back year after year to nest in their boxes.
Margot H. tells a funny story that when she was a young woman, visiting friends in the Eastern Townships, she found out that Blue Birds were in fact real birds and not just cartoon characters or part of a fairy tale. She learned that they were becoming rarer and rarer as their habitat was disappearing. In conservation terms their status was in serious decline. This pretty little bird was unhappy.
Later in life Margot and her husband began to build Blue Bird nesting boxes. For the past 20 years they put out the boxes annually in the Spring and took them in and to clean and store them in the Fall.
Each box is numbered and sits in a particular position. Margot has created her very own Blue Bird Way. She takes notes after each season when cleaning the boxes to keep track of who visited each box.
Thanks to people like her, the Eastern Blue Bird has seen a slow return to healthy numbers as its loss of natural nesting sites has been replaced by nesting boxes.
Would you like to build a Blue Bird nesting box?
Click here for the plans from La SLOE.
This year, the Massawippi Foundation and the Massawippi Conservation Trust are celebrating their 10th anniversary. To mark the occasion, they are joining the global movement to improve agro-ecosystem resilience for sustainable production by launching a competition to award two agricultural producers with prizes of $10,000 each.
In setting out its 10-year vision for a green and prosperous Massawippi Valley, the council plans to expand its conservation areas to include a variety of other ecologically valuable land types.
“We believe that conservation must include…
how we use our land – we will advocate for agri-environmental farming practices to keep our soils healthy, preserve biodiversity, including insects, birds and plants, and protect waterways, thereby ensuring the health of our lake, our farms and their products; ultimately improving the quality of life for all who live here,” said Margot Heyerhoff, Foundation President.
The Foundation’s competition (now closed) will award an organic farmer with a $10,000 prize; another prize of the same amount will reward a conventional farmer. In both cases, the prizes will be awarded to farmers for their good practices to ensure the resilience of our agricultural ecosystem.
15 nominations have been submitted and are currently being reviewed by our experts.
The committee of the “Farm Agri-Environmental Leadership Award” is composed of 3 members:
Dr. Eric van Bochove, a member of the Board of Directors of the Massawippi Foundation and a resident of Ayer’s Cliff, holds a B.Sc. in Agronomy, a M.Sc. in Plant Ecology and a Ph. He has extensive research experience in the agri-environmental field, before becoming a senior staff member responsible for the scientific direction of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s research and development centres. Recently retired, he joined our Board of Directors to continue his involvement in the community. LINKEDIN
Dr. Darren Bardati is Professor and Chair of the Department of Environment and Geography at Bishop’s University in Sherbrooke. He is currently involved in the creation of the Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems (SAFS) program and the development of the farm at Bishop’s. He has been teaching the Resource Management course and the Environment course in the Department of Environment and Geography since 1996. His research interests include agroecology and sustainable food systems, climate change adaptation and water management. https://resilientfoodsystems.weebly.com/d-bardati.html
Stéphanie Durand, agr. is the third member of the committee. She currently works for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada as a research farm manager. Her responsibilities include human resources, management of feed production for the dairy herd: rotation, purchase of inputs, crop management. She is also the coordinator of the animal phases of research projects on dairy cows and pigs. She previously worked for the Club Agroenvironnemental de l’Estrie in consulting services for producers in the region. LINKEDIN
The Massawippi Foundation and the Massawippi Conservation Trust were created in 2011. They were born from the will of a very small group of citizens concerned about the possibility of development on the west side of Lake Massawippi that would cause irreversible damage to this precious environment including the lake’s watershed. The negative impact would be felt by both the community and wildlife. Today, the Board of Directors is composed of three members from that initial core group and new members from diverse backgrounds. All have a keen interest in the environment and in particular in the 5 municipalities surrounding Lake Massawippi.
They look forward to presenting the awards to the winners on September 1st.
https://massawippi.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/24e4e666-3234-e23b-8689-71fb15ad5ae4.jpg600800massaadminhttps://massawippi.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/long-logo.pngmassaadmin2021-08-11 23:13:112023-02-03 23:15:57FMF/MCT Vision – next 10 years
Hamnett Hill is one of the newer members of the Massawippi Foundation board, joining in 2020. In speaking with Hamnett, we discovered that it was his love of the region, the environment, and food that brought him to the table.
He is a relative newcomer to the valley, buying a family property a mere 10 years ago (unlike our founding board member Tom Wilcox whose family has been part of the scene for six generations). Hamnett had cousins in Katevale (Sainte-Catherine-de-Hatley) with an amazing view of the lake and spent many weekends with them. Later on in life, when he and his father started looking for a property that the extended family could enjoy, he knew the Townships generally, and Lake Massawippi specifically, was where he wanted to find a property. It took two years until he finally settled on a spot with a direct view of the green mountains on the west side of the lake, and coincidentally the bulk of land protected by the foundation. He heard about the Foundation through his uncle, Jake Eberts and mutual friends, answered a call from Tom regarding strategic communications and within a short time joined the board contributing his strategic, marketing, and digital know-how to the team.
Hamnett has been described as a serial entrepreneur, operator, and investor who has built and scaled early-stage technology companies for decades. He is currently on several boards including Goodfood Market, Canada’s largest online grocer, and founded the edō Foundation and edō Captial, an organization devoted to increasing awareness and education about sustainable food issues, and investing in and supporting entrepreneurs building businesses to address them.
‘Serendipity’ was the word he used commenting on how closely the evolution of the Foundation’s vision and mission over the next 10 years to to include farming and food production aligns with his personal interests and passion.
Coincidence or synchronicity?
It seems there is an undercurrent of discussion and actions surrounding the way we need to change our ways of producing food in order to improve the way we use natural resources.
Over the last 5 years – and understanding of how much the way we eat and what we eat impacts the world has gone from a niche group of passionate academics, farmers and activists to the mainstream. People everywhere are realizing, in the words of Michael Pollan, that ‘eating is an agricultural, political, and environmental act’ “Eyes are opening, we are rapidly reaching a tipping point in many parts of the world”, says Hamnett. “Business, entrepreneurs, and communities everywhere are beginning to embrace the alignment of demand for sustainable food choices and their sustainable production and distribution – to create new food system economics that enable them to thrive – while protecting and nurturing the environment for future generations“.
For the Massawippi valley, it can mean clean water and green spaces but it can also mean becoming an economic engine that could enable the region to further establish itself as a sustainable, green, agricultural and food center.”
Stay tuned for future newsletters that will reveal the Massawippi Foundation’s vision of the next ten years.
https://massawippi.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/129d6156-a4e9-fd5d-33fa-1ebb497c66ca.jpg6671000massaadminhttps://massawippi.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/long-logo.pngmassaadmin2021-07-15 23:31:052023-02-03 23:33:48Meet Hamnett Hill, board member of the Massawippi Foundation
https://massawippi.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/tag-scaled-e1623892662281.jpg300400Helene Hamelhttps://massawippi.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/long-logo.pngHelene Hamel2021-06-21 21:19:072021-06-22 18:34:38The A.G.M. was successfully held via videoconference on June 19th
Canton de Hatley, June 9, 2021–Massawippi Conservation Trust (MCT) is pleased to announce the acquisition of a new property to be protected in perpetuity in the Massawippi valley. The project is the fruit of a three–year collaboration with three siblings, who fulfilled their parents’ conservation dream by selling their forested and ecologically rich 154 hectares (390 acres) to the MCT in August of 2019.
The Massawippi Foundation and the Massawippi Conservation Trust are two charitable organizations that are respectively responsible for the funding and management of large, protected areas in the watershed of the Massawippi valley.
“After several years of negotiations with the Eberts family, the Trust was able to acquire the second largest parcel of land under our stewardship,” explains Margot Heyerhoff, President of the Fondation Massawippi Foundation (FMF). “The addition of this property will enable us to preserve these pristine forests and ecologically important marshlands. The Foundation (FMF) and Trust (MCT) will also be building a new trail network on the sector which will be appreciated by the users of our trail system. We thank thefamily for their visionary collaboration,” she adds.
Along–time resident of the region and a lover of nature,Jake Eberts was a Canadian Oscar–winning film producer, executive, and financier who purchased the land in 1990.
“Our family roots in this area began with our grandparents, Toppy and Ted Eberts, who purchased a farmhouse on a small plot of land in the town of Katevale (now Sainte–Catherine–de–Hatley) in 1966,” tell the three Ebert children, Alexander, David,and Lindsay. “Our father, Jake, fell in love with the property and bought it from his parents in 1990, and inspired by his time spent in nature as a young boy, continued to add land around the original farmhouse in order toprotect it and enhance its natural state.”
In 2011, Mr. Eberts became one of the founding trustees of the FMF and began considering the possibility of one day perpetually protecting his land. However, he became ill shortly thereafter, passing away in 2012. Conversations to perpetually protect the land continued with his widow, Fiona Eberts, until her unexpected death in 2014. Their three children recently decided to complete their parents’ conservation aspirations for the land through an arrangement with the MCT which includes the part–sale of the land combined with a part donation of 3.25 hectares (8 acres).
“It is with great pleasure that our family was able to complete a long–held dream of our late parents, Jake and Fiona,to transfer a part of our much–beloved family land to the Massawippi Conservation Trust to be protected and appreciated by future generations. Our family would like to acknowledge our contribution to the land,and we recognize and deeply appreciate the Abenaki historic connection to this place,”add the children.
PROTECTING ESSENTIAL HABITATS FOR SPECIES AT RISK
Named “Property # 9” by the MCT, the newly acquired land is home to several varieties of amphibians, birds, and vegetation of interest, all of which will benefit from the protection and conservation of the territory.
As part of their ecological assessment, Appalachian Corridor biologists found streams that provide quality habitat for two species of salamander that are in a precarious status, the Northern Dusky Salamander and the Spring Salamander. The Northern Dusky Salamander is likely to be designated as threatened or vulnerable in Quebec while the Spring salamander is already designated as vulnerable.
With respect to vegetation communities found on the property,there are mainly deciduous woodlands, particularly sugar maple stands, as well as several species vulnerable to harvesting, such as Northern Maidenhair Fern, Two–leaved Toothwort and Ostrich Fern. The land is also home to the Butternut, which is likely to be designated as threatened or vulnerable in Quebec and endangered in Canada, and the Appalachian Sedge which is a rare species.
In terms of bird species, the property’s large interior forests are deemed critical to maintaining populations of forest birds such as the Eastern Wood–Pewee, a species designated as of special concern in Canada.
“The moment our biologists set foot on the property, we recognized the great ecological richness of this environment for its many species and its tremendous relevance in improving the water quality of Lake Massawippi,” explains Mélanie Lelièvre, Executive Director for Appalachian Corridor. “At a regional scale, the protection of the Eberts land supports our efforts to create a wide natural ecological corridor enabling wildlife movements in the landscape and adapting to changes in their movements caused by climate change. We are grateful for the efforts led by MCT and salute the family’s commitment to honoring their parents’ legacy. It is an honour to be involved in this project and to have contributed to its realization,” she adds.
With this recent acquisition, the MCT increases the protected land under its stewardship to close to 485 hectares (1,200 acres) in the Massawippi watershed area where it has been working actively for the past ten years to conserve land in perpetuity adjacent to Lake Massawippi.Appalachian Corridor brings the privately held protected land on its territory of action to 15 062 hectares (37 219 acres). The MCT has been an affiliate member of Appalachian Corridor since 2011.
ESSENTIAL FINANCIAL SUPPORT TO CREATE A GROWING NETWORK OF PERPETUALLY PROTECTED LAND
This project was made possible by generous private donations collected by the Massawippi Foundation and the Massawippi Conservation Trust(MCT). The Government of Quebec also provided support through the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s Project Together for Nature (PEPN), to which the Ministry of the Environment and the Fight against Climate Change has provided $15 million in financial assistance.
“The protection of natural areas, particularly those located on private lands in southern Quebec,help to enhance Quebec’s network of protected areas and also help to ensure the survival of many species at risk,” tells Benoit Charette, Minister of the Environment and the Fight Against Climate Change, Minister Responsible for the Fight Against Racism and Minister Responsible for the Laval Region. “In fact, some of these species were found on the territory part of this conservation project. I am proud to have helped to preserve the habitats for these species and to contribute to their survival thanks to the funding allocated to the Massawippi Trust, the Massawippi Foundation and Appalachian Corridor. Congratulations to the organizations involved in this wonderful project,”he concludes.
Appalachian Corridor received government funding which was provided by this program to grant MCT complimentary technical expertise for the ecological assessment process for the realisation of this project.
ABOUT MASSAWIPPI CONSERVATION TRUST (MCT)
The Massawippi Conservation Trust (MCT) is a registered charitable land trust founded in 2011 whose purpose is to conserve the natural state of the land adjacent to Lake Massawippi and its tributaries and to provide stewardship services for that land in perpetuity. The primary source of funds for the MCT comes via the Fondation Massawippi Foundation (FMF). The MCT protects land by acquisition through purchase or donation; establishing easements or servitudes on land; helping landowners understand the ecological and tax benefits of limiting the types of activities permitted on their land; helping landowners understand the potentially disastrous effect of over–development on the overall well–being of the Massawippi watershed. www.massawippi.org
APPALACHIAN CORRIDOR
Appalachian Corridor Appalachian Corridor is a non–profit conservation organization founded in 2002 with a mission to protect natural areas in the Appalachian region of Southern Québec. Through the implementation of a cross–border conservation strategy, Appalachian Corridor works with local communities to maintain and restore a way of life that respects the ecology of the region from a perspective of sustainable development. To date, Appalachian Corridor and its 17 members have allowed the perpetual protection of 15,062hectares on our territory of action. corridorappalachien.ca
GOVERNMENT OF QUÉBEC –MINISTÈRE DE L’ENVIRONNEMENT ET DE LA LUTTE CONTRE LES CHANGEMENTS CLIMATIQUES: Projet Ensemble pour la Nature (PEPN)
Projet Ensemble pour la nature (PEPN) is a $ 15 million, three–year grant to NCC from Quebec’s ministère du Développement durable, de l’Environnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques. It aims to establish financial partnerships and scientific research to ensure the conservation and protection of natural habitats on private lands in Quebec by March 31, 2020. It tends to create solidarity with respect to protected areas by encouraging the Quebec community to take action to preserve the environment
https://massawippi.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/long-logo.png00massaadminhttps://massawippi.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/long-logo.pngmassaadmin2021-06-09 10:41:032021-06-09 11:01:25PRESS RELEASE – MASSAWIPPI CONSERVATION TRUST ADDS 154 HECTARES (390 ACRES) TO PROTECT THE MASSAWIPPI VALLEY
Not too far away from the Massawippi Trail in Sainte-Catherine-de-Hatley is another jewel of a place for bird watchers and for people who enjoy nature. The Ile du Marais site includes an island and marshland and is now a privately owned conservation property.
The wetlands were formed around 1910 when a new dam was built. The marsh and the island have a surface area of nearly 150 hectares. The land trust “Île du Marais Inc”, was founded in 1984 and it is a non-profit organization that protects the island, the trail leading to it and part of the marsh. It is a private property, but like the Massawippi Conservation Trust’s properties, some areas are open to the public. Four kilometres of trails run through the site and give visitors privileged access to the heart of this ecosystem.
Fortunately, despite its private nature, the people who created the trust, as well as all those who have been involved on a volunteer basis ever since, are committed to keeping it open to the public. Their mission is to preserve the natural environment of Lake Magog, particularly its wetlands.
The fauna and flora are abundant on Île du Marais. More than 190 species of birds have been observed there! Many species of plants, amphibians and reptiles are also present here.
The Fondation Massawippi Foundation gave its very first grant ($15,000.) to the Ile du Marais Inc. in 2011 to help them raise the funds necessary to rebuild their boardwalk. When Claude Goulet, President and Marc Hurtubise, board member, met with the author, they laughed as they told the story of this large and unexpected gift. It helped them to kick-off the campaign to raise enough money to rebuild the aging boardwalk.
Imagine the hundreds of thousands of birds that have nested and used the land over the years. We are lucky to have this conservation group protecting their habitat ensuring that the birds will continue to roost and profit from this safe environment. The site is recognized as one of the most exceptional heritage nature sites in the region.
https://massawippi.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/819dae34-6800-4f6d-90a1-2f5b51560802.jpg6721075massaadminhttps://massawippi.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/long-logo.pngmassaadmin2021-05-06 23:53:412023-02-03 23:55:42Île du Marais rues des Sapins, Sainte-Catherine-de-Hatley
Some Common Nature “Do’s and Dont’s” | Part 1: Honouring the TrailApril 1, 2024 - 3:54 pm
New Year’s Resolutions and NatureFebruary 19, 2024 - 1:01 pm
Blue Birds (of Happiness) truly exist…
Conservation Newsand they make some people happy especially when they come back year after year to nest in their boxes.
Margot H. tells a funny story that when she was a young woman, visiting friends in the Eastern Townships, she found out that Blue Birds were in fact real birds and not just cartoon characters or part of a fairy tale. She learned that they were becoming rarer and rarer as their habitat was disappearing. In conservation terms their status was in serious decline. This pretty little bird was unhappy.
Later in life Margot and her husband began to build Blue Bird nesting boxes. For the past 20 years they put out the boxes annually in the Spring and took them in and to clean and store them in the Fall.
Each box is numbered and sits in a particular position. Margot has created her very own Blue Bird Way. She takes notes after each season when cleaning the boxes to keep track of who visited each box.
Thanks to people like her, the Eastern Blue Bird has seen a slow return to healthy numbers as its loss of natural nesting sites has been replaced by nesting boxes.
Would you like to build a Blue Bird nesting box?
Click here for the plans from La SLOE.
https://www.sloe.net/
FMF/MCT Vision – next 10 years
Conservation NewsThis year, the Massawippi Foundation and the Massawippi Conservation Trust are celebrating their 10th anniversary. To mark the occasion, they are joining the global movement to improve agro-ecosystem resilience for sustainable production by launching a competition to award two agricultural producers with prizes of $10,000 each.
In setting out its 10-year vision for a green and prosperous Massawippi Valley, the council plans to expand its conservation areas to include a variety of other ecologically valuable land types.
“We believe that conservation must include…
how we use our land – we will advocate for agri-environmental farming practices to keep our soils healthy, preserve biodiversity, including insects, birds and plants, and protect waterways, thereby ensuring the health of our lake, our farms and their products; ultimately improving the quality of life for all who live here,” said Margot Heyerhoff, Foundation President.
The Foundation’s competition (now closed) will award an organic farmer with a $10,000 prize; another prize of the same amount will reward a conventional farmer. In both cases, the prizes will be awarded to farmers for their good practices to ensure the resilience of our agricultural ecosystem.
15 nominations have been submitted and are currently being reviewed by our experts.
The committee of the “Farm Agri-Environmental Leadership Award” is composed of 3 members:
Dr. Eric van Bochove, a member of the Board of Directors of the Massawippi Foundation and a resident of Ayer’s Cliff, holds a B.Sc. in Agronomy, a M.Sc. in Plant Ecology and a Ph. He has extensive research experience in the agri-environmental field, before becoming a senior staff member responsible for the scientific direction of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s research and development centres. Recently retired, he joined our Board of Directors to continue his involvement in the community. LINKEDIN
Dr. Darren Bardati is Professor and Chair of the Department of Environment and Geography at Bishop’s University in Sherbrooke. He is currently involved in the creation of the Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems (SAFS) program and the development of the farm at Bishop’s. He has been teaching the Resource Management course and the Environment course in the Department of Environment and Geography since 1996. His research interests include agroecology and sustainable food systems, climate change adaptation and water management. https://resilientfoodsystems.weebly.com/d-bardati.html
Stéphanie Durand, agr. is the third member of the committee. She currently works for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada as a research farm manager. Her responsibilities include human resources, management of feed production for the dairy herd: rotation, purchase of inputs, crop management. She is also the coordinator of the animal phases of research projects on dairy cows and pigs. She previously worked for the Club Agroenvironnemental de l’Estrie in consulting services for producers in the region. LINKEDIN
The Massawippi Foundation and the Massawippi Conservation Trust were created in 2011. They were born from the will of a very small group of citizens concerned about the possibility of development on the west side of Lake Massawippi that would cause irreversible damage to this precious environment including the lake’s watershed. The negative impact would be felt by both the community and wildlife. Today, the Board of Directors is composed of three members from that initial core group and new members from diverse backgrounds. All have a keen interest in the environment and in particular in the 5 municipalities surrounding Lake Massawippi.
They look forward to presenting the awards to the winners on September 1st.
August 2021 Newsletter
Our NewsView our August newsletter on Mailchimp
https://mailchi.mp/dc2bd182793b/lavenir-the-future-ouverture-officielle-de-la-plage-ethan-official-opening-of-ethans-beach?e=2671b2c399#English
Meet Hamnett Hill, board member of the Massawippi Foundation
Conservation NewsHamnett Hill is one of the newer members of the Massawippi Foundation board, joining in 2020. In speaking with Hamnett, we discovered that it was his love of the region, the environment, and food that brought him to the table.
He is a relative newcomer to the valley, buying a family property a mere 10 years ago (unlike our founding board member Tom Wilcox whose family has been part of the scene for six generations). Hamnett had cousins in Katevale (Sainte-Catherine-de-Hatley) with an amazing view of the lake and spent many weekends with them. Later on in life, when he and his father started looking for a property that the extended family could enjoy, he knew the Townships generally, and Lake Massawippi specifically, was where he wanted to find a property. It took two years until he finally settled on a spot with a direct view of the green mountains on the west side of the lake, and coincidentally the bulk of land protected by the foundation. He heard about the Foundation through his uncle, Jake Eberts and mutual friends, answered a call from Tom regarding strategic communications and within a short time joined the board contributing his strategic, marketing, and digital know-how to the team.
Hamnett has been described as a serial entrepreneur, operator, and investor who has built and scaled early-stage technology companies for decades. He is currently on several boards including Goodfood Market, Canada’s largest online grocer, and founded the edō Foundation and edō Captial, an organization devoted to increasing awareness and education about sustainable food issues, and investing in and supporting entrepreneurs building businesses to address them.
‘Serendipity’ was the word he used commenting on how closely the evolution of the Foundation’s vision and mission over the next 10 years to to include farming and food production aligns with his personal interests and passion.
Coincidence or synchronicity?
It seems there is an undercurrent of discussion and actions surrounding the way we need to change our ways of producing food in order to improve the way we use natural resources.
Over the last 5 years – and understanding of how much the way we eat and what we eat impacts the world has gone from a niche group of passionate academics, farmers and activists to the mainstream. People everywhere are realizing, in the words of Michael Pollan, that ‘eating is an agricultural, political, and environmental act’ “Eyes are opening, we are rapidly reaching a tipping point in many parts of the world”, says Hamnett. “Business, entrepreneurs, and communities everywhere are beginning to embrace the alignment of demand for sustainable food choices and their sustainable production and distribution – to create new food system economics that enable them to thrive – while protecting and nurturing the environment for future generations“.
For the Massawippi valley, it can mean clean water and green spaces but it can also mean becoming an economic engine that could enable the region to further establish itself as a sustainable, green, agricultural and food center.”
Stay tuned for future newsletters that will reveal the Massawippi Foundation’s vision of the next ten years.
July 2021 Newsletter
Our NewsView our July newsletter on Mailchimp
https://mailchi.mp/dcd16f6d855f/prsentation-hamnett-hill-le-prix-du-leadership-en-agroenvironnement-invitation-au-parc-scowen?e=2671b2c399#English
The Farm Agri-environmental Leadership Award.
Our NewsJune 2021 Newsletter
Our NewsView our June newsletter on Mailchimp
https://mailchi.mp/23e675f4b580/blue-bird-of-happiness?e=2671b2c399#English
The A.G.M. was successfully held via videoconference on June 19th
Our News, UncategorizedThe A.G.M. was successfully held via videoconference on June 19th
Documents from the meeting:
Agenda AGM June 19
2021FMF MCT Draft Minutes (June 27, 2020)
Directeurs Administrateurs 2021
PRESS RELEASE – MASSAWIPPI CONSERVATION TRUST ADDS 154 HECTARES (390 ACRES) TO PROTECT THE MASSAWIPPI VALLEY
Our NewsCanton de Hatley, June 9, 2021–Massawippi Conservation Trust (MCT) is pleased to announce the acquisition of a new property to be protected in perpetuity in the Massawippi valley. The project is the fruit of a three–year collaboration with three siblings, who fulfilled their parents’ conservation dream by selling their forested and ecologically rich 154 hectares (390 acres) to the MCT in August of 2019.
The Massawippi Foundation and the Massawippi Conservation Trust are two charitable organizations that are respectively responsible for the funding and management of large, protected areas in the watershed of the Massawippi valley.
“After several years of negotiations with the Eberts family, the Trust was able to acquire the second largest parcel of land under our stewardship,” explains Margot Heyerhoff, President of the Fondation Massawippi Foundation (FMF). “The addition of this property will enable us to preserve these pristine forests and ecologically important marshlands. The Foundation (FMF) and Trust (MCT) will also be building a new trail network on the sector which will be appreciated by the users of our trail system. We thank thefamily for their visionary collaboration,” she adds.
Along–time resident of the region and a lover of nature,Jake Eberts was a Canadian Oscar–winning film producer, executive, and financier who purchased the land in 1990.
“Our family roots in this area began with our grandparents, Toppy and Ted Eberts, who purchased a farmhouse on a small plot of land in the town of Katevale (now Sainte–Catherine–de–Hatley) in 1966,” tell the three Ebert children, Alexander, David,and Lindsay. “Our father, Jake, fell in love with the property and bought it from his parents in 1990, and inspired by his time spent in nature as a young boy, continued to add land around the original farmhouse in order toprotect it and enhance its natural state.”
In 2011, Mr. Eberts became one of the founding trustees of the FMF and began considering the possibility of one day perpetually protecting his land. However, he became ill shortly thereafter, passing away in 2012. Conversations to perpetually protect the land continued with his widow, Fiona Eberts, until her unexpected death in 2014. Their three children recently decided to complete their parents’ conservation aspirations for the land through an arrangement with the MCT which includes the part–sale of the land combined with a part donation of 3.25 hectares (8 acres).
“It is with great pleasure that our family was able to complete a long–held dream of our late parents, Jake and Fiona,to transfer a part of our much–beloved family land to the Massawippi Conservation Trust to be protected and appreciated by future generations. Our family would like to acknowledge our contribution to the land,and we recognize and deeply appreciate the Abenaki historic connection to this place,”add the children.
PROTECTING ESSENTIAL HABITATS FOR SPECIES AT RISK
Named “Property # 9” by the MCT, the newly acquired land is home to several varieties of amphibians, birds, and vegetation of interest, all of which will benefit from the protection and conservation of the territory.
As part of their ecological assessment, Appalachian Corridor biologists found streams that provide quality habitat for two species of salamander that are in a precarious status, the Northern Dusky Salamander and the Spring Salamander. The Northern Dusky Salamander is likely to be designated as threatened or vulnerable in Quebec while the Spring salamander is already designated as vulnerable.
With respect to vegetation communities found on the property,there are mainly deciduous woodlands, particularly sugar maple stands, as well as several species vulnerable to harvesting, such as Northern Maidenhair Fern, Two–leaved Toothwort and Ostrich Fern. The land is also home to the Butternut, which is likely to be designated as threatened or vulnerable in Quebec and endangered in Canada, and the Appalachian Sedge which is a rare species.
In terms of bird species, the property’s large interior forests are deemed critical to maintaining populations of forest birds such as the Eastern Wood–Pewee, a species designated as of special concern in Canada.
“The moment our biologists set foot on the property, we recognized the great ecological richness of this environment for its many species and its tremendous relevance in improving the water quality of Lake Massawippi,” explains Mélanie Lelièvre, Executive Director for Appalachian Corridor. “At a regional scale, the protection of the Eberts land supports our efforts to create a wide natural ecological corridor enabling wildlife movements in the landscape and adapting to changes in their movements caused by climate change. We are grateful for the efforts led by MCT and salute the family’s commitment to honoring their parents’ legacy. It is an honour to be involved in this project and to have contributed to its realization,” she adds.
With this recent acquisition, the MCT increases the protected land under its stewardship to close to 485 hectares (1,200 acres) in the Massawippi watershed area where it has been working actively for the past ten years to conserve land in perpetuity adjacent to Lake Massawippi.Appalachian Corridor brings the privately held protected land on its territory of action to 15 062 hectares (37 219 acres). The MCT has been an affiliate member of Appalachian Corridor since 2011.
ESSENTIAL FINANCIAL SUPPORT TO CREATE A GROWING NETWORK OF PERPETUALLY PROTECTED LAND
This project was made possible by generous private donations collected by the Massawippi Foundation and the Massawippi Conservation Trust(MCT). The Government of Quebec also provided support through the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s Project Together for Nature (PEPN), to which the Ministry of the Environment and the Fight against Climate Change has provided $15 million in financial assistance.
“The protection of natural areas, particularly those located on private lands in southern Quebec,help to enhance Quebec’s network of protected areas and also help to ensure the survival of many species at risk,” tells Benoit Charette, Minister of the Environment and the Fight Against Climate Change, Minister Responsible for the Fight Against Racism and Minister Responsible for the Laval Region. “In fact, some of these species were found on the territory part of this conservation project. I am proud to have helped to preserve the habitats for these species and to contribute to their survival thanks to the funding allocated to the Massawippi Trust, the Massawippi Foundation and Appalachian Corridor. Congratulations to the organizations involved in this wonderful project,”he concludes.
Appalachian Corridor received government funding which was provided by this program to grant MCT complimentary technical expertise for the ecological assessment process for the realisation of this project.
ABOUT MASSAWIPPI CONSERVATION TRUST (MCT)
The Massawippi Conservation Trust (MCT) is a registered charitable land trust founded in 2011 whose purpose is to conserve the natural state of the land adjacent to Lake Massawippi and its tributaries and to provide stewardship services for that land in perpetuity. The primary source of funds for the MCT comes via the Fondation Massawippi Foundation (FMF). The MCT protects land by acquisition through purchase or donation; establishing easements or servitudes on land; helping landowners understand the ecological and tax benefits of limiting the types of activities permitted on their land; helping landowners understand the potentially disastrous effect of over–development on the overall well–being of the Massawippi watershed. www.massawippi.org
APPALACHIAN CORRIDOR
Appalachian Corridor Appalachian Corridor is a non–profit conservation organization founded in 2002 with a mission to protect natural areas in the Appalachian region of Southern Québec. Through the implementation of a cross–border conservation strategy, Appalachian Corridor works with local communities to maintain and restore a way of life that respects the ecology of the region from a perspective of sustainable development. To date, Appalachian Corridor and its 17 members have allowed the perpetual protection of 15,062hectares on our territory of action. corridorappalachien.ca
GOVERNMENT OF QUÉBEC –MINISTÈRE DE L’ENVIRONNEMENT ET DE LA LUTTE CONTRE LES CHANGEMENTS CLIMATIQUES: Projet Ensemble pour la Nature (PEPN)
Projet Ensemble pour la nature (PEPN) is a $ 15 million, three–year grant to NCC from Quebec’s ministère du Développement durable, de l’Environnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques. It aims to establish financial partnerships and scientific research to ensure the conservation and protection of natural habitats on private lands in Quebec by March 31, 2020. It tends to create solidarity with respect to protected areas by encouraging the Quebec community to take action to preserve the environment
Île du Marais rues des Sapins, Sainte-Catherine-de-Hatley
Conservation NewsNot too far away from the Massawippi Trail in Sainte-Catherine-de-Hatley is another jewel of a place for bird watchers and for people who enjoy nature. The Ile du Marais site includes an island and marshland and is now a privately owned conservation property.
The wetlands were formed around 1910 when a new dam was built. The marsh and the island have a surface area of nearly 150 hectares. The land trust “Île du Marais Inc”, was founded in 1984 and it is a non-profit organization that protects the island, the trail leading to it and part of the marsh. It is a private property, but like the Massawippi Conservation Trust’s properties, some areas are open to the public. Four kilometres of trails run through the site and give visitors privileged access to the heart of this ecosystem.
Fortunately, despite its private nature, the people who created the trust, as well as all those who have been involved on a volunteer basis ever since, are committed to keeping it open to the public. Their mission is to preserve the natural environment of Lake Magog, particularly its wetlands.
The fauna and flora are abundant on Île du Marais. More than 190 species of birds have been observed there! Many species of plants, amphibians and reptiles are also present here.
The Fondation Massawippi Foundation gave its very first grant ($15,000.) to the Ile du Marais Inc. in 2011 to help them raise the funds necessary to rebuild their boardwalk. When Claude Goulet, President and Marc Hurtubise, board member, met with the author, they laughed as they told the story of this large and unexpected gift. It helped them to kick-off the campaign to raise enough money to rebuild the aging boardwalk.
Imagine the hundreds of thousands of birds that have nested and used the land over the years. We are lucky to have this conservation group protecting their habitat ensuring that the birds will continue to roost and profit from this safe environment. The site is recognized as one of the most exceptional heritage nature sites in the region.
To learn more, please visit their website http://www.iledumarais.org/index.html
To go directly to their list of birds seen on their property listed in French.
http://www.iledumarais.org/faune-oiseaux.htm