Conservation project will protect P.E.I. island, give land back to Mi’kmaq community

Located in Cascumpec Bay, the 210-acre island is home to great blue heron, double crested cormorant and bald eagles, as well as other small animals like snowshoe hares and red squirrels. (COURTESY: Stephen DesRoches)

A new partnership between the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) and Indigenous peoples on Prince Edward Island will see the purchase of an offshore island transferred back to the Mi’kmaq.

The partnership, announced Wednesday, will see the NCC and the Epekwitnewaq Mi’kmaq work together to protect the island, which the NCC says is “culturally and ecologically significant,” on the northwestern shore of P.E.I.

The NCC has negotiated the purchase of Kwesawe’k, also known as Oulton’s Island. The organization, in collaboration with the Epekwitnewaq Mi’kmaq, is launching a fundraising campaign to help acquire, manage and care for the island for five years. After the five-year period, the land is slated to be transferred to the Epekwitk Assembly of Councils, which will continue to conserve and care for Kwesawe’k for years to come.

“Our people have always been guardians of the natural world, and we are pleased to continue that tradition while partnering with like-minded organizations such as NCC,” said Darlene Bernard, the chief of Lennox Island First Nation and co-chair of the Epekwitk Assembly of Councils, in a news release.

“Collaboration on conservation with Indigenous people is both valuable and essential for all. The Mi’kmaq have occupied Epekwitk for over 12,000 years, and our deep cultural roots and relationship to the lands and waters are forever entrenched.”

Kwesawe’k has been considered a high-priority protection area by the NCC since the 1980s. The Mi’kmaq word, Kwesawe’k, translates to “end of the island cape” or “end of the headland.” Located in Cascumpec Bay, the 210-acre island is home to great blue heron, double crested cormorant and bald eagles, as well as other small animals like snowshoe hares and red squirrels.

The NCC is collecting donations from people, businesses and foundations to help pay for the acquisition of Oulton’s Island. In a press release issued Wednesday, the organization says it has made “solid progress” on the funding for the $1.2-million purchase, but still needs to raise roughly $300,000 to complete the sale.

Donations can be made online through the NCC’s website.

This isn’t the first partnership between the NCC and the Epekwitnewaq Mi’kmaq. They have been working together since 2009 to help care for nearby conservation areas on the Cascumpec and Conway Sandhills.

“By partnering with the Epekwitnewaq Mi’kmaq, we can achieve meaningful conservation that supports their leadership and cultural connections to this unique region of P.E.I,” said Lanna Campbell, a provincial program director for the NCC, in a release. “We are honoured to share a vision for the continuing long-term conservation of this special place.”