BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report
A deal spearheaded by the Nature Conservancy of Canada will protect a six-hectare tract of land made up of woodlands and wetlands from development in perpetuity in Notre Dame de l’Île Perrot, it was announced last week.
The forested natural space was acquired from private owners for $3.5 million.
Financed by a consortium of private agencies and three levels of government, the land will be part of the Boisé de la Pointe du Domaine nature park in the northeast corner of the island, which offers walking trails to the public.
“It’s a legacy for future generations,” said Notre Dame Mayor Danie Deschênes at a press conference last Friday. “It’s a big deal.”
“We are very proud to live in an area that is two-thirds woodland and farmland,” Deschênes added. “With the creation of the parc-nature and the acquisition of lots in Pointe du Domaine, we are continuing to promote access to nature for the whole of the Île Perrot community.”
The town is contributing only $150,000 toward the purchase, an amount Deschênes described as “pocket change” given the scope of the legacy that will be preserved, as the land will link a tract of parkland already owned by the town that will now stretch from the north to the south waterfronts of the Pointe de Domaine area.
The Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal, through its land acquisition fund, La Trame verte et bleue, kicked in $1.4 million, while the federal government pitched in $457,000; the provincial government added $299,000; the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, under the guise of the North American Wetlands Conservation Act, provided $256,000; and the private Age of Union Fund headed by environmental activist Dax Dasilva, who is also the CEO of Montreal-based Lightspeed, an e-commerce software provider, contributed $6,000.
The acquisition adds to five hectares previously acquired by the Nature Conservancy of Canada in the same area in 2022 for just over $1 million, which also included $537,000 from the provincial government through its Projet de partenariat pour les milieux naturels; $462,000 from the federal government, through its Nature Smart Climate Solutions Fund, and funds from two private foundations – $41,000 from the Age of Union and $40,000 from Echo Foundation.
Vaudreuil-Soulanges MP Peter Schiefke who was on hand for the announcement last Friday said the purchase brings the federal government’s contribution to natural land acquisitions for preservation in Notre Dame to $920,000 in the last two years, and builds on its contributions towards natural space purchases in the area, which includes preserving more than 300 hectares on Mont Rigaud. Other acquisitions are also in the works for the region, he said. The federal government’s financing of green space acquisitions is a unique way the national government can help municipalities directly.