The Mabou Highlands is the Nature Trust’s largest land assemblage – and two newly protected lands have expanded it even further.

The first property comprises 130 acres (52 hectares) very close to the Cape Mabou Wilderness Area, while the second is actually a group of two parcels totalling another 158 acres (78 hectares) northeast of the town of Mabou. Like the other protected lands in this area, these properties are forested with mature hardwoods including Sugar Maple and American Beech, as well as potential “old” forest conditions. These lands are also extremely steep in places, and those slopes are where we are more likely to find the older forest as it would have been difficult to harvest trees in those conditions.

Expanding the range of protected forest not only strengthens the resilience and health of forest ecosystems but also secures important habitat for multiple species of conservation interest. For example, the mature hardwood forests provide potential habitat for the Eastern Wood-Pewee, which is listed as a species of Special Concern by the federal Species at Risk Act and as Vulnerable under the Nova Scotia Endangered Species Act.

The first property was generously donated through the Canadian Ecological Gifts program (Ecogifts), which offers significant tax incentives for gifts of ecologically important land. The donor, who wishes to remain anonymous, notes that they were “inspired by the vision of generosity of the Kinzer family and David Rumsey, as well as the dedication of the Nature Trust staff.” The Kinzers and Rumseys were among the first visionary group of landholders who joined together with the Nature Trust to protect huge swathes of land in the Highlands and keep this outstanding landscape intact.

In fact, half of the second group of lands was generously donated by Lee Ann and the late Bob Kinzer through a mechanism we refer to as a “split receipt.” We are so grateful to the Kinzers for their continued legacy of conservation in their beloved Mabou Highlands. This second group of lands was secured through the Nature Smart Climate Solutions led by Environment and Climate Change Canada, which aims to reduce Canada’s net GHG emissions using natural climate solutions, while benefitting biodiversity and human well-being.

This project was undertaken with the financial support of the Government of Canada through the federal Department of Environment and Climate Change.

The protection of both lands was also generously supported by the Nova Scotia Crown Share Land Legacy Trust, a critical source of land securement funding for Nova Scotia’s land trusts.

The Nature Trust now protects nearly 3,500 acres in the Mabou Highlands. Together with lands protected by the Province (the Cape Mabou Wilderness Area) and the Nature Conservancy of Canada, this impressive assemblage now covers more than 7,500 acres of protected coastal wilderness.

This property was protected through our Twice the Wild campaign, which reached its goal of doubling the protected acres under our care in June 2024.