The Capital Regional District has bought another 15 hectares of parkland for Sooke Hills Wilderness Regional Park.

The land parcel was purchased for $445,000.

B次元官网网址淭his land increases the size of the park to 4,113 hectares, which is the largest park in the CRD regional park system,B次元官网网址� said CRD Board Chair Steve Price. B次元官网网址淎dding land to the east boundary of Sooke Hills Wilderness Regional Park helps complete the parkB次元官网网址檚 boundaries.B次元官网网址�

This parkland addition will protect the environment and conserve the wilderness character of the Sooke Hills, Price added.

The property will create a buffer between the core of the park and Highway 14. These lands also contribute to the protection of important ecosystem services, and support terrestrial carbon sequestration.

The purchase is funded through the CRDB次元官网网址檚 regional parks land acquisition fund. The funds are generated through a levy set at a rate of $20 per average residential household. The fund is projected to generate approximately $3.7 million each year to 2019.

Sooke Hills Wilderness Regional Park is a large wilderness area within the Juan de Fuca Electoral Area, Metchosin and Langford. The area is also within both the TB次元官网网址橲ou-ke and SciaB次元官网网址檔ew (Beecher Bay) First NationB次元官网网址檚 Traditional Territory.

The park provides a buffer to the Greater Victoria Water Supply Area and includes the Sooke Hills Wilderness Trail, which forms part of The Great Trail route (formerly the Trans Canada Trail), a network of multiuse trails that stretches across Canada.