Manitoba has announced plans for a major Pembina Valley Provincial Park expansion using recently acquired private lands.

“With only one per cent of Manitoba’s protected lands south of the Trans Canada highway, this expansion is especially important,” noted Conservation and Water Stewardship Minister Gord Mackintosh.

With the help from the Manitoba Region of the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC), the province has purchased private land in the south central area. That land, along with converting two units of the Pembina Valley Wildlife Management Area, will increase the park to five times its original size.

Jeff Polakoff, regional vice-president, Manitoba, NCC, said the project will support biodiversity while offering new opportunities for Manitobans to connect with nature: longer trails and backcountry camping, to name a few.

The addition of new lands will also help protect an array of rare species seen in the park, including a woodland species called ironwood and the Bigmouth Shiner fish, found swimming in the Pembina River, which runs through the new lands.

This river is also a major migratory path for raptors. Hundreds of red-tail hawks, rough-legged hawks, other raptors and bald and golden eagles are seen from late March to mid April.

Public consultations on adding these lands will begin this spring.