HALIFAX—By next fall, nature lovers can expect to enjoy a new wilderness park located just five kilometres from downtown Halifax.

The future Halifax Wilderness Park comprises 380 acres (154 hectares) bordering Williams Lake and Colpitt Lake within the Purcell’s Cove Backlands and will be twice the size of the city’s iconic Point Pleasant Park.

“What’s special about it is there is mature forest here, there is a lot of exposed bedrock with jack pine barrens, which is a rare landscape that you can only find in certain parts of Nova Scotia,” explained Kathryn Morse, Atlantic director of communications for the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC).

“This jack pine, when it grows along with other plants called broom-crowberry, it’s kind of a mix of a landscape that you’d find further north and further south. But they meet here in Nova Scotia, so that’s one of the things that we’re protecting.”

On Thursday, the NCC kicked off its Keep Halifax Wild campaign to raise the remaining $1.2 million needed to fund the $8-million project. The launch included an announcement from the provincial government that it will contribute $1 million toward the project.

With 85 per cent of the required funds already in place, Morse said they’re confident the remaining $1.2 million will be raised from the community over the course of the next year to ensure the permanent conservation of the land.

“There’s a lot of support out there. It’s an ambitious project, but we’re confident it’s going to come together,” she said.

The Nature Conservancy of Canada has been actively working on the project for the last three years, partnering with HRM and the landowner, Shaw Group Ltd.

“Through the Green Network Plan, which has been going on in Halifax for a number of years and had a lot of public participation, this is one of the top areas identified by the public for conservation,” Morse said. “So we know that there’s a lot of support for this project.”

The long-term plan for managing the wilderness park will be developed by HRM, the NCC and community partners.

“There are a lot of cities that would envy having this quality of wilderness so close to the downtown,” Morse said. “Some cities are trying to recreate natural areas like this, and we still have it intact and the way it always was. We’re thrilled that we’re going to be able to conserve this jewel.”

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Yvette d’Entremont is a Halifax-based reporter focusing on health and environment. Follow her on Twitter: @ydentremont

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