Nova Scotia Nature Trust acquires 182 hectares of coastal land next to Owls Head

The Nova Scotia Nature Trust has acquired 182 additional hectares of coastal land in Little Harbour, just over an hour from Halifax. 

The land is next to the 265-hectare Owls Head Provincial Park, where potential private development into a golf course caused significant public outcry and demand for its protection.

The Nova Scotia Nature Trust has been eyeing the parcel of land for more than two decades and recently bought it from a private owner for just over $2 million.

"We need to work with private landowners and so sometimes that does take a long time and building relationships and being patient," said Bonnie Sutherland, executive director of the Nova Scotia Nature Trust.

"I think they finally realized that ... the best use of the land would be to leave it accessible for everyone to enjoy rather than privatize it."

Sutherland said the land includes five kilometres of coastline on the same headland as Owls Head. People can access the land by boat or from an old trail. 

"It'll now be over 1,000 acres of coast that is protected both from a biodiversity and climate change perspective, but also coast that's publicly available," she said. 

Biodiverse area

The newly protected land isn't just for human use — it will safeguard animal and plant habitats.

Biologist and president of Nature Nova Scotia, Bob Bancroft, said he's happy to hear about the land acquisition. 

"I think it's getting to the point where a lot of people in Nova Scotia are well aware that the development has taken over much of the land here," Bancroft said. "And coastal properties that aren't private are becoming very rare."

The new conservation lands are an addition to the Nature Trust's 100 Wild Islands, an archipelago of over 280 coastal islands.

The land is home to what has been flagged as a globally rare ecosystem. Sutherland said the property features a diversity of coastal ecosystems including salt marshes, tidal flats, coastal forest, rocky shores, beaches, bogs and coastal barrens.

It is also home to birds like Harlequin ducks, purple sandpipers, boreal songbirds, eiders, terns and raptors.

"The extensive salt marsh between the two sides of the property and tidal flats are so important for nesting birds and migratory birds," she said. "We know how important it is to protect biodiversity and how much it is in decline in Nova Scotia around the world."

$700,000 still needed

The land has been purchased, but Sutherland said the nature trust is still fundraising $700,000 to pay for things like legal surveys, appraisal work and environmental assessments.

The money will also be used to keep the area protected forever. 

She said they've already secured funding from the federal government and the Nova Scotia Crown Share Land Legacy Trust, but they are still hoping for donations.

Bancroft, who sought a judicial review of the former Liberal government's decision to remove Owls Head from the Parks and Protected Areas Plan, said he has donated some of his own land to the New Brunswick Nature Trust, and plans to donate to the Little Harbour project. 

"I'm a senior citizen now, I was a biologist for the government for quite a time in my life," he said. "A lot of people really want to see nature given a reasonable chance in this province."