Maitland Bridge, Nova Scotia Parks Canada Agency – The Government of Canada is committed to preserving our national parks, protecting and restoring healthy, resilient ecosystems and contributing to the recovery of species at risk.

On December 16, 2019 – The Government of Canada announced a federal investment of $1.4 million to enhance existing efforts to protect the threatened Eastern Hemlock forests in Kejimkujik National Park and National Historic Site. The announcement was made by the Honourable Bernadette Jordan, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard and Member of Parliament for South Shore—St. Margaret’s, on behalf of the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Environment and Climate Change and Minister responsible for Parks Canada.

Eastern Hemlock trees are critical to the park’s ecosystem and provides important habitat for many other species. The trees have lately been under threat from Hemlock Woolly Adelgid, an aphid-like insect, unintentionally introduced in Eastern North America from Asia, which has killed thousands of Eastern Hemlock trees over the past three decades in the United States. In 2017, this invasive species was found in southwest Nova Scotia and, a year later, was detected in Kejimkujik National Park and National Historic Site. The insect is a significant threat to the park’s forest and up to 80 percent of Kejimkujik’s Eastern Hemlock trees could be lost over the next thre ...