The Nature Conservancy of Canada needs to raise $225,000 by May to save 102 acres of wetland near Harrow.
The land is just northeast of Harrow and is part of its ramped up efforts to protect environmentally significant property in Essex County. Several areas have been pinpointed including the Cedar Creek watershed.
The watershed is part of a provincially significant wetland that is home to several species at risk including the eastern fox snake, monarch butterfly, short-eared owl, yellow-breasted chat, and the barn swallow.
The agency needs the funding by May to close the deal.
Once protected, it will connect a stretch of habitat along Cedar Creek that includes Marshfield Woods, one of the few remaining areas of intact forest.
"Cedar Creek represents one of the best examples of connected habitat in Essex County," said Julie Vasseur, acting program director. "Headwater conservation can influence the health of the entire watershed."
Once the Nature Conservancy finishes the project, the area will be named the "Marianne Girling Nature Reserve" in memory of the late Marianne Featherstonhaugh Girling, who left a gift posthumously to support habitat conservation in Ontario.
So far, the agency has conserved 434 acres of land in the Essex County area since 2000. Of that, 321 acres have been restored to its natural habitat.
