ACTION NEEDED!
Nova Scotia government may use fake protected areas to achieve land protection targets. Please use your voice to STOP this from happening.
The Nova Scotia government could use a type of inadequate protected area to achieve provincial land protection commitements. If these areas are counted towards Nova Scotia’s land protection targets, this would be disastrous for conservation.
Recently, the Nova Scotia Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Timothy Halman, said that the province has achieved 14.5% protection of the provincial landmass using other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs). The government has not stated where these sites are located, what conservation values are being protected, or if these are permanent conservation sites. There has also been no public consultation.
This is NOT how protected areas planning should be undertaken.
Land protection needs to be done right, and we have the tools to do it through fully implementing the Nova Scotia: Our Parks and Protected Areas Plan. There are about 100 wilderness areas, nature reserves, and provincial parks remaining in the plan that are promised for protection and have been awaiting legal designation since 2013. These sites contain rare species, old growth forests, important waterways, and are places people go to enjoy, explore, and connect with nature. They are ecologically and culturally significant, and have already undergone public consultation.
Why NOW?
Through the Canada-Nova Scotia Nature Agreement signed in 2023, the Nova Scotia government has federal funding to create 82,500 hectares of new protected and conserved areas by March 31, 2026. That is now 1 week away.
Please write to Premier Tim Houston and express your concern about the lack of progress on creating protected areas in Nova Scotia. Call for designation of all remaining wilderness areas, nature reserves, and provincial parks in the Nova Scotia: Our Parks and Protected Areas Plan without further delay.
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