Dear members and friends,
Following its busiest year ever, Conservation Manitou positioned itself in 2019 as an important player in Quebec’s conservation scene by playing a key role in establishing the first wildlife crossing in the Laurentians. Having secured an option to acquire 66 acres at the entrance of the tunnel passing under highway 117 in Ivry-sur-le-Lac, we partnered with Nature Conservancy of Canada who raised the necessary funding to purchase this strategic parcel and Eco-corridors laurentiens who installed cameras in the tunnel. In August, we held a press conference with other members of the consortium announcing the creation of the Ivry Wildlife Crossing in the presence of Quebec’s Minister of the Environment and the Fight against Climate Change.
To be sure, our focus is on protecting the watershed of Lake Manitou and its surroundings, however widening our scope and working with like-minded organizations is proving to be highly beneficial to our mission. We are raising more awareness for conservation in the broader community and expanding our donor base to neighboring areas such as Valdurn and lac Merisier. Thanks to our success, we are now at the center of one the most important environmental initiatives in the Laurentians: the creation of a wildlife corridor to preserve ecological connectivity in the greater region. With the fight against climate change top of mind, we are doing our part by now protecting 1,330 acres of Earth’s most important eco-assets: forests and wetlands.
Conservation Manitou continues fundraising efforts to endow its Stewardship Fund which grew by $36,000 to $170,000. We are still short of our minimum target of $250,000 and need your help so that we can generate sufficient annual income to cover the carrying costs of our conservation lands. We also need your help to acquire other eco-sensitive areas we have identified and encourage landowners to engage with us while government funding is available. As always, we are grateful to our members and hope to see you at our 7th Annual Members Meeting to be held Saturday June 27 at 2pm at a location to be determined.
Please find attached Conservation Manitou Annual Report - 2019