Province a hotbed for ecological restoration 'hotspots,' says WWF

Researchers from World Wildlife Fund Canada have identified a number of areas in New Brunswick that they say are prime for ecological restoration.

"We see really large hotspots near St. George and Moncton, and then along Woodstock and Edmundston," said Jessica Currie, a senior specialist of nature-based climate solutions for WWF, based in Quispamsis.

WWF researchers have identified almost four million hectares across the country that have been converted for human use and that, if restored, could provide vital habitats and help address climate change by storing "massive amounts of carbon," said Currie.

She was lead author of an article about the work that was published in a recent edition of the journal Conservation Science and Practice.

"One thing I really noticed for New Brunswick: there are converted lands in every pixel," said Currie, meaning the human impact on the landscape is "quite widespread."

Hotspots

The highest proportion of converted land is in the Grand Falls area, according to the WWF's map, and falls in the range of 60 to 80 per cent.

Other concentrations of 40 to 60 per cent conversion are along the western border of New Brunswick, an area known for farming.

"We're talking about areas that have been completely converted to agriculture, energy infrastructure, roads and could benefit from a bit of restoration," said Currie.

While restoration is important everywhere, she said, there are only so many resources to go around. That's why her group wanted to highlight areas where work could be done with maximum benefits.

"Obviously, we're not going to restore a large city to a completely natural state."

"When you layer in carbon and biodiversity benefits, you can narrow it down a bit."

The "most optimal" restoration areas identified are around St. George, Saint Andrews and on Campobello Island.

The reason has a lot to do with simple geography and climate, she suggested.

"All across Canada, species biodiversity is highest on the southern border."

Other hotspots with high biodiversity potential are east of Saint John, north of Chipman and the Sackville region, she said.

That's based on species-at-risk data from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, said Currie.

Carbon storage

Looking exclusively at carbon storage potential from things like tree planting and wetland restoration, St. George and St. Stephen came out on top, said Currie, noting that assessment was made even before recent wildfires in Charlotte County.

"Restoration is even more important now," she said.

Riverside-Albert was another area identified as having great potential for more carbon storage.

Trees, wetlands and peatlands are among the most valuable types of ecosystem to restore to help with climate change, said Currie.

They "can all hold a little more carbon than grasslands can," she said.

Restoration could mean something as small and simple as reintroducing some native plants, said.

Currie did some restoration work of this kind herself by planting trees along a riparian area by her home.

They'll grow and store carbon, help secure the riverbank and keep the water cooler for fish, she said.

She helped on a similar project with a farmer in Hampton who had noticed some degradation on his property.

They put in native plants and built up the shoreline.

"It's really nice to see something going from kind of a mud pit of no vegetation to something that has thriving vegetation and is beautiful, really," said Currie.

She noted the work hasn't prevented the farmer from using the land. He still has all his cattle and gardens, she said.

Success stories

There are many other examples of land in New Brunswick that's been successfully restored, said Andrew Holland of the Nature Conservancy of Canada.

In the Greater Moncton area, the Nature Conservancy has done some forest restoration work in the Grand-Barachois area, he said, between Shediac and Cap-Pele.

Tree planting has also been done at a former Girl Guide camp in the Baie-Verte area and on the Chignecto Isthmus, said Holland.

In Grand Manan, a gravel pit is being returned to a more natural state.

Near Saint John, the conservancy is helping to protect and conserve forest in the Loch Lomond watershed.

On Grand Lake, plans are being made to restore the shoreline of a recently acquired property known as The Keyhole.

Like the WWF, the Nature Conservancy has also called for restoration of areas that have been converted for human use which exist primarily near cities and towns.

"It's where most people live and where we've seen the most loss of nature," said Holland.

In 2021, the Nature Conservancy did the first national comprehensive look at where nature in southern Canada needs to be protected, he said.

Restoring forests in and around cities is important, he said, because trees provide "shade pooling" and offer some relief from extreme heat.

Likewise, said Holland, restoring salt marshes and protecting wetlands near built up areas is important, because they help absorb water during heavy rains and floods.

"So it helps protect our communities from washouts and damage to roads and bridges."

These days there's extra pressure on natural areas around cities from urban sprawl. People are developing outside of municipal limits because of rising land and housing costs within them, he said.

"We try to acquire these sites and then put in management plans."