At the far north tip of Unama’ki stretches one of Nova Scotia’s most wild and rugged coastal wildernesses. With a unique mix of highland and coastal features, this area has been significant to the Mi’kmaw since time immemorial, and more recently to adventure-seeking nature lovers. Now, a newly protected inholding adds 147 acres (59 hectares) to the protected area – and places a missing puzzle piece in what will become rugged 48-kilometer hiking experience.

Jajiktek Seawall Passage, as seen from Bear Hill. (Photo: Emery Ferraro)

The Jajiktek Seawall Passage Conservation Lands are located southwest of the community of Meat Cove. The property is adjacent to the Lowland Cove Conservation Lands protected by the Nature Trust in 2021, and like that land, it is characterized by the steep, forested hills that are typical of much of the Cape Breton Highlands. Together, the two properties create roughly 247 acres (100 hectares) of contiguous Nature Trust land. As two now-protected inholdings within the Polletts Cove–Aspy Fault Wilderness Area, these lands represent significant progress in improving habitat connectivity across the protected areas network, and strengthening the long-term conservation of this beloved wilderness in Unama’ki.

Running across the property is a key section of the soon-to-be-developed Jajiktek Seawall Trail, a 48-kilometer hiking trail that will traverse the Wilderness Area between Pleasant Bay and Meat Cove. Jajiktek is a Mi’kmaw word that means crouching down and standing up as you move along a difficult route close to water, an apt name for the exceptionally rugged coastal route.

The new Nature Trust land holds many of the defining topographic features and ecological diversity found along the trail, with steep brooks tumbling down slopes, and a diverse range of forest communities, including both hardwood and coniferous forests. Almost half of the newly protected property, 42 acres, are mapped as Old Growth Potential Forest, which indicates a high degree of long-term forest continuity and overall ecological integrity.

The area is known to support important populations of Federally rare species, including Bicknell’s Thrush (Threatened) and Canada Lynx (Endangered). Mapping data also indicates that approximately 57 acres (23 hectares) of the Jajiktek Seawall Passage property comprise habitat for American Marten (Endangered). The Atlantic Canada Conservation Data Centre has recorded observations of Monarch Butterflies (Endangered) and Lesser Rattlesnake-plantain (of conservation concern but not formally listed under any legislation) on the property. Nature Trust staff identified several orchids and a variety of birds including White-throated Sparrow, Yellow-rumped Warbler and Pine Siskin during a recent site visit, as well as Brook Trout (another species that is of conservation concern but not formally listed under legislation).

The Jajiktek Seawall Trail project aims to create a sustainable adventure tourism operation, while preserving the ecological integrity of the protected lands and centering Mi’kmaw partners’ authentic cultural sharing about the First People’s history here in the ancestral homelands of the Mi’kmaq. The project has long been championed by the volunteer-led Seawall Trail Society and has garnered support from Inverness and Victoria Counties, Mi’kmaw communities across Unama’ki, and other project partners including the Nature Trust. It is also supported provincially by the Department of Community, Culture, Tourism and Heritage, the Department of Environment and Climate Change, and Build Nova Scotia, and federally by the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.

The protection of Jajiktek Seawall Passage was made possible by the Waltons Trust.

Saving Nova Scotia’s most incredible wild nature depends on the ongoing support of passionate people coming together to protect tomorrow, today. Thanks to you, Jajiktek Seawall Passage and other spectacular and at-risk wild places will remain in our nature, forever. You can support this work with a gift today. A gift of any size makes a real difference.