Habitat restoration and management

Because of PEI’s long history of human occupation, many of our natural areas have been disturbed in some way. Our habitat restoration work ranges from eliminating foot and vehicle paths through sensitive sand dune systems to large-scale forest management designed to accelerate the natural successional process, restoring woodlands to something resembling their pre-disturbance state.

Sometimes management means removing vegetation, especially when invasive alien species have been found in a natural area.  These nasty invaders can destroy the very qualities that made the site worth protecting in the first place.  We have removed Purple Loosestrife from DeRoche Pond, near Blooming Point, and are watching for others at all natural areas, such as Glossy Buckthorn, Japanese Knotweed and Norway Maple.