Most of the land in P.E.I is privately owned. (Photo: Madigan Cotterill)
One main challenge preventing the province from protecting land is private land ownership.
“The profile of land ownership in P.E.I. is markedly different than it is in most other provinces,” says Harris. “Eighty-seven per cent of the land is privately owned.”
This is unique to Canada as the opposite is experienced in the rest of the country. Harris explains that in the 1760s, the island was parcelled up into lots by the British. Most of these lots have now been further divided into sizes of about 50 acres. Each of these lots will have a different landowner.
“There are some logistics involved in trying to acquire large quantities [of land] in any given year, in that by necessity, that means multiple parcels of land. Each one of those takes time to go through the process of getting appraised and going through the legal steps required to transfer land,” says Harris.
A recommendation from the CPAWS report suggests that P.E.I. should work with private land trusts, like Island Nature Trust, to protect more private land on the island. On World Environmental Day in June 2019, the Nature Conservancy of Canada announced the protection of a new, 35-hectare coastal property along the Percival River in Egmont Bay. Later in 2019, the Island Nature Trust acquired a 28-hectare piece of land thanks to a donation made to the organization.
Harris says a second challenge is related to resources.
“There are 600 charities in P.E.I. Most of them are human health-related, and they get the bulk of the money.” There are only about 150,000 people in P.E.I., and there are no private foundations that focus on land conservation east of Quebec.
Reaching the seven per cent goal by purchasing private land is an expensive proposition, but a partnership with the Government of Canada may help with getting the work done.
“We’re certainly very excited that we’ve been able to partner with the Government of Canada,” says Kate MacQuarrie, the director of Forests, Fish, and Wildlife in P.E.I. “They’ve invested almost one and a half million dollars, last year and for the next couple of years to help us acquire the land.”
CPAWS has made another recommendation for the government of P.E.I. to create a strategy to protect more public land that it does not manage in the province. The CPAWS report states that the strategy should focus on attaining connectivity across the island and work with Indigenous communities. Efforts like this are already underway.
In September 2019, L’nuey, the Epekwitk Mi’kmaq Rights initiative was launched by the First Nation’s leadership. With a focus on preserving, protecting and implementing the constitutionally entrenched rights of the Mi’kmaq people of P.E.I., Epekwitk, L’nuey has the responsibility to lead the discussions and negotiations related to the potential establishment of the Hog Island park reserve.