CPAWS welcomes largest Nova Scotia protected wilderness area in a decade
21 Sep 09
Halifax – The Nova Scotia government has officially designated the public lands of Ship Harbour Long Lake, an area of vast forests and wetlands sheltering many species at risk, as a legally-protected wilderness area. The designation applies to nearly 15,000 hectares of land, making it the largest protected area established in Nova Scotia since 1998.
“We are thrilled with this announcement,” says Chris Miller, National Manager of Wilderness Conservation and Climate Change for CPAWS. “The wilderness of Ship Harbour Long Lake is one of the ecological jewels of the province”.
The Ship Harbour Long Lake Wilderness Area is located roughly between the communities of Musquodoboit Harbour and Ship Harbour along the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia. It’s a refuge for the endangered mainland moose, and other at-risk species including the boreal felt lichen. CPAWS has worked with a coalition of groups over the past decade to ensure that this designation was made possible.
A landmark agreement was signed in 2007 between Neenah Paper, Eastern Shore Forest Watch, Ecology Action Centre, CPAWS, and the Nova Scotia Departments of Environment and Natural Resources that enabled the formal designation process to begin.
Through the public consultation phase, the Ship Harbour Long Lake Wilderness Area was expanded to include a number of new areas that were found to contain ecologically-significant values. CPAWS recommended that a number of new parcels of public land be added to the wilderness area designation.
Contact:
Chris Miller, Ph.D.
National Manager, Wilderness Conservation and Climate Change
201-1099 Marginal Road
Halifax, Nova Scotia
B3H 4P7
902-446-4155
cmiller@cpaws.org