This 138-property is located on the south shore of the beautiful Otonabee River, not far from Otonabee Conservation’s Squirrel Creek Conservation Area and KLT’s Otonabee River Wetland property. Approximately 35% of the nature reserve falls within the Kawarthas Naturally Connected Preferred Scenario.

Notable features include a Provincially Significant Wetland (Otonabee Midriver Complex), which features large Maple-dominated swamps that provide shaded, open-water habitat for amphibians and reptiles, comprising half of the property. The swamp at the northern portion of the property is an intact riparian area that transitions from the open flowing Otonabee River to a mature deciduous forest.

Upland sections of the property are dominated by Red and Silver Maples and host a variety of native understory and middle-canopy tree species, like Leatherwood, and canopy trees like American Beech.

At-risk Wood Thrush and Eastern Wood-pewee have been recorded on the property. The wetlands and natural shoreline provide excellent habitat for native turtles, including at-risk Northern Map Turtles. Many young Black Ash saplings, a provincially Endangered tree species, are present throughout these wetlands and in the forest understories.

KLT’s Pleasant Point Property will be the site of a grassland restoration project. Grasslands such as Tallgrass Prairie and Oak Savannah are two of the rarest ecosystems in North America and support a number of at-risk species, including Grassland birds. According to the 2024 The State of Canada’s Birds report, the country’s grassland birds are in crisis, having experienced a 67% decrease in their populations since 1970.

The restoration site will also be used to collect native tallgrass seeds to support other grassland projects in the Kawarthas.

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Generous funding received from the Natural Heritage Conservation Program — Land Trusts Conservation Fund (NHCP-LTCF) Grant Programs supported the protection of KLT’s Pleasant Point property.

The Government of Canada’s Natural Heritage Conservation Program (NHCP) is a unique partnership that supports the creation and recognition of protected and conserved areas through the acquisition of private land and private interest in land. To date, the Government of Canada has invested more than $500 million in the Program, which has been matched with more than $1 billion in contributions raised by Nature Conservancy of Canada, Ducks Unlimited Canada and the country’s land trust community leading to the protection and conservation of nearly 840,000 hectares of ecologically sensitive lands.