MATTAPOISETT — Though it’s only yards from Route 6, the newly opened Alves-Bucciarelli Preserve in Mattapoisett is nearly silent except for the sounds of birds chirping and animals scuttling through the bushes.

The approximately 4.31-acre preserve is maintained by the Mattapoisett Land Trust and borders the Mattapoisett River with access points at the head of Mattapoisett Neck Road and on Route 6 across from River Road.

It was obtained by the trust in 2022, said Mattapoisett Land Trust Community Engagement and Stewardship Manager Colleen Andrews, and it officially opened to the public on Monday, Oct. 9.

“For the last year and a couple months, we have been working diligently to get it up to shape. It’s a really interesting, really beautiful parcel,” said Andrews. “We have some new trails cut through it …. It's a really great habitat.”

The preserve was assembled from two parcels of land donated by bordering residents. Less than half an acre was obtained from the Bucciarelli family and the remaining land was obtained from the Alves family.

According to Andrews, this parcel was chosen for its public access, conservation value and proximity to the Mattapoisett River’s salt marshes.

“This [property] scored highly because it is in the adaptation zone for climate change,” she said. “It’s where the state has mapped where salt marshes are expected to migrate upwards and inland as tides get higher and water rises.”

According to a report published by the Buzzards Bay Coalition in March, salt marshes can adapt to rising waters caused by climate change if they can migrate inland to higher elevations.

Rachel Jakuba, vice president of bay science for the Buzzards Bay Coalition and a co-author of the report, said marshland is important for protecting the shoreline against erosion, for trapping carbon that can contribute to climate change and for protecting native wildlife.

Buzzards Bay’s marshlands naturally “ebb and flow and change over time,” she said.

However, environmental stressors like sea level rise, nitrogen pollution and tidal restrictions caused by human development can cause portions of marshlands to “slough off” and be consumed by the rising water.

“Land that is adjacent to salt marshes now is our best hope for salt marshes in the future,” she said. “The marshes being able to migrate inland is really important to be able to maintain marshes around Buzzards Bay in the future.”

The Alves-Bucciarelli Preserve is owned by the Mattapoisett Land Trust, but the Buzzards Bay Coalition holds a conservation restriction on the land, said Andrews.

“As long as we’re in existence as an organization, that piece of property will be protected from development,” she explained. “However, if the land trust were ever to dissolve, … having a conservation restriction held by a different organization is a double layer of protection.”

The land was acquired through a combination of private funding, a Massachusetts Conservation Partnership Grant and a Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program municipal grant, she said.

According to Andrews, there is still work to be done on the Alves-Bucciarelli Preserve, but it is a “hidden gem.”

“You wouldn’t really expect this behind the residential side of Mattapoisett Neck Road but it’s a beautiful piece of property back here,” she said. “It’s still a work in progress, but this has already come a long way from when the parcel was first acquired.”