Northern Ontario project protects 81,400 hectares of taiga and peatlands

A conservation project south of Kapuskasing, Ontario, has protected more than 81,400 hectares of taiga forest and peatlands, the federal government announced Tuesday.

Ottawa is contributing more than $13 million through the Natural Heritage Conservation Program. The Nature Conservancy of Canada is leading the project, which has $64 million in total support from the federal and Ontario governments, businesses, foundations and private donors.

The federal release says the area’s forests and peatlands store more than 30 million tonnes of carbon and provide habitat for species including the red-headed woodpecker and bobolink. The 81,400-hectare figure describes the protected landscape, not a future target.

Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada, northern Ontario conservation announcement, published October 13, 2026.

Featured image: Illustrative aerial stock photo of boreal forest, not the protected Ontario lands. Photo by Jamo Images on Unsplash; cropped and resized by West Island Blog.