N.S. creates five new wilderness areas, expands eight more and establishes nine new nature reserves
HALIFAX, N.S. — Nova Scotia has made 23 new protected land designations, helping preserve 14,000 more hectares of land across the province.
Just outside of Halifax, the new 3,937-hectare Island Lake Wilderness Area in St. Margarets Bay is home to old-growth and conifer forest, lakes, wetlands and watercourses, including the lower Ingram River, and Island Lake — a popular destination for canoeing, boating, hiking and camping.
Three newly established wilderness areas in Guysborough County — Guysborough Headlands (3,012 hectares), Big Plains (2,112) and Nine Mile Woods (1,031) — cover a combined 6,155 hectares and the new Douglas Meadow Brook Wilderness Area in Cumberland and Colchester counties measures 637 hectares of old growth forest.
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The remaining 18 designations are expansions to existing wilderness areas and new nature reserves. They are:
Expanded wilderness areas
- Blue Mountain-Birch Cove Lakes
- Devils Jaw
- Fourchu Coast
- Gully Lake
- Liscomb River
- Ogden Round Lake
- South Panuke
- Trout Brook
Nature reserves
- Cap La Ronde
- East River-St Marys
- Harpers Lake
- Long Lake Bog
- Minard Brook
- Mulgrave Hills
- Point Michaud
- Sugar Harbour
- Tobacco Island
The newly designated areas cover 115 kilometres of coastline, 3,680 hectares of coastal ecosystems and 528 wetlands of special significance covering 3,000 hectares and bring the total amount of provincial protected land to 13.45 per cent province-wide.
“We are thrilled to see the designation of Island Lake Wilderness Area,” said Mike Lancaster, executive director of the St. Margaret’s Bay Stewardship Association.
“This is a win for all Nova Scotians as this designation will protect habitat for species at risk and some of the oldest forests in the province.”
The province also released its Collaborative Protected Areas Strategy, which aims to protect 20 per cent of Nova Scotia’s land and water by 2030 under the Environmental Goals and Climate Change Reduction Act.
More information and maps of the wilderness areas and reserves are available online.
