Province takes action to support N.S. hemlock trees

A coordinated effort between various levels of government, community groups, and the Mi’kmaq has been put forth to protect the province’s hemlock trees.

Last week, the province’s Ministry of Environment and Climate Change announced funding for two new projects to support the health and vitality of the trees.

“The hemlock is one of Nova Scotia’s most special and beautiful trees,” Minister Timothy Halman said in a press release.

Those trees are increasingly threatened by the hemlock woolly adelgid, an invasive insect that attacks and kills the trees.

Hemlock trees, which are native to Nova Scotia and a key component of the Wabanaki-Acadian forest, but the woolly adelgid is not. The insect was first discovered in the province in 2017 and has since made its way through nine counties. While an exact quantification of loss is not available, the Nova Scotia Nature Trust says the insects have caused “significant” defoliation and tree loss across the province.

The hemlock is crucial to habitat preservation and conservation efforts in Nova Scotia, with the trees’ ability to stabilize temperature and provide shelter, while also storing 15 to 21 million tons of carbon. But the Nature Trust says the hemlock woolly adelgid holds the power to wipe out 95 per cent of trees in areas it is present within four to 10 years.

The province is providing $356,214 — $156,214 from the Sustainable Communities Challenge Fund and $200,000 from the federal Nature Smart Climate Solutions Fund — to support Acadia University’s hemlock woolly adelgid biocontrol facility.

“At Acadia University’s new biocontrol facility, we are raising two natural predators of the hemlock woolly adelgid to target different stages of the pest’s life cycle,” N. Kirk Hillier, professor and acting department head in the department of biology at Acadia University, said in a press release. “This will allow us to release tens of thousands of predators each year to help protect and restore Nova Scotia’s hemlock forests.”

The facility will mass-produce silver flies and fungus beetles, which will feed on the woolly adelgid. The insects, originally from the Pacific Northwest, are cited as the best long-term solution to help control the spread of the woolly adelgid in Nova Scotia’s forests.

In the fall of 2023, 5,000 Laricobius nigrinus beetles were transported from B.C. to Nova Scotia. The Lari beetle, as scientists came to call it, feeds on adelgids. Researchers found that about 60 per cent of the beetles survived the winter, and when they surveyed them the following fall, some had even begun to reproduce.

The Town of Bridgewater is also set to receive $255,500 from the Sustainable Communities Challenge Fund for its own hemlock conservation project.

The town will be working to treat an infestation of hemlock woolly adelgid in the community’s parks and trails.

The Town said the project involves an extensive tree inventory followed by Health Canada-approved pesticide treatment.

Work in Bridgewater began in 2024 and is set to continue over the next two years.

“We are incredibly grateful to receive this Sustainable Communities Challenge Fund funding, which will be put to work to help safeguard our community’s hemlock trees – an important step in protecting them and our invaluable public park spaces for generations to come,” David Mitchell, Mayor of Bridgewater, said in a press release.

The Sustainable Communities Challenge Fund was created in 2021 to guide the province’s Environmental Goals and Climate Change Reduction Act.