MOSSY POINT, WALES — The Western New York Land Conservancy held a ribbon cutting Tuesday afternoon at Mossy Point in Wales to highlight the importance of protecting native plants and animals in our region.
The Deputy Director of Conservation, Marisa Riggi, tells 7 News The Friends of Mossy Point and The Land Conservancy raised $1.6 million to protect this forest in 2020.
“At this time, with all of these critical threats to wildlife and nature happening,” Riggi says. “This conservation and this creation of this protected area that can host wildlife in our region is really important.”
Riggi says Mossy Point adds to one largest patches of forests connecting and protecting the entire Niagara River watershed at more than 1,100 acres.
Riggi says Mossy Point will also allow plants and animals to move through the landscape as the climate continues to change.
“The goal is to connect natural habitat,” she says. “Throughout the East coast from Canada down to the Gulf of Mexico ensuring Wildlife on the East Coast is really able to move and migrate as the climate changes.”
Others, such as the Executive Director of Western New York Land, Nancy Smith, say this forest is a haven for wildlife and a place for all people to enjoy.
“The more you spend time in nature, the more understand how it might be vulnerable and what are the things you can do in your own life to ensure nature is going well,” Smith. “It might be spending a day and removing invasive species at a local park.”
You can visit from dawn to dusk and you should park in the Hunters Creek County Park lot off Hunters Creek Road, which is where the trailhead begins. You can find more information here.
“It’s important for every segment and every corner of our Western New York community to have access and to feel welcome and comfortable in those outdoor spaces,” Smith says.
