After years of research and about $1.2-million, the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) has bought 144 acres (58 hectares) of land in the Kumdis Estuary.Previously owned by Weyerhaeuser, the land was purchased after years of research and evaluation to assess its environmental values."The entire Pacific North Coast Integrated Management Area (PNCIMA), that stretches from the northern tip of Vancouver Island to the southern tip of Alaska, was assessed and it was determined that the Kumdis Estuary offered more bang for our buck," said Tim Ennis, NCC's Director of Environmental Stewardship. "The Kumdis estuary has a history of function for islanders, and also features a top-ranking wetland for migrating bird populations as well as old growth forest plots, and a unique salmon population that we hope to be able to use to regenerate failing salmon stocks" said Mr. Ennis.The non-profit, private, organization protects Canada's biodiversity through the purchase, donation, or conservation agreements on land that's considered ecologically significant. "The NCC hopes to ensure that the biodiversity found in the area will thrive for generations to come, and will use the targets set out in the management plan to achieve this," said Mr. Ennis, "the NCC does not intervene with nature taking its course, but will try to identify the threats and implement actions to evade those threats ensuring that the environmental values that are present will remain indefinitely."For more info, see the NCC's website natureconservancy.ca