Last year, the Nature Trust completed the largest acquisition of privately owned coastline in Nova Scotia history. Today, we’re proud to add another 35 acres to that remarkable – and still-growing – coastal legacy.

The Blanche Peninsula is located in Shelburne County, within the Mi’kmaw district of Kespukwitk. It supports an impressive diversity of ecosystems, including 10 protected kilometers of undeveloped coastline, coastal forests, bogs, barrens, wetlands, beaches, ecologically important barachois, and critical habitat for species at risk and migratory birds.

The newly protected property lies on the northern end of the large coastal peninsula, extending out into the Atlantic. Its protection further improves connectivity with the Nature Trust’s adjacent Blanche Peninsula Conservation Lands, Cape Negro Island, Blanche Island, and Purgatory Point, and nearby Goose Point and Crow Neck Beach Conservation Lands, as well as provincially protected areas.

The addition to this growing assemblage of intact coastal ecosystems adds to the protected area of important breeding, migratory, and overwintering habitat for a rich variety of landbirds, shorebirds, waterfowl, and other waterbirds. There is a rich diversity of birds associated with the peninsula, including Bank Swallow, Barn Swallow, Bobolink, Canada Warbler, Piping Plover, all of which are designated Species at Risk. Over 174 species have already been recorded on the peninsula through eBird, with 60 species recorded in one migration season using acoustic monitoring.

By adding this new land to the growing assemblage on the Blanche Peninsula, the Nature Trust has expanded the incredible coastal mosaic that will remain in our nature forever – thanks to you.

If you’re inspired to help us save even more of Nova Scotia’s most ecologically significant, rare, and at-risk natural areas before it’s too late, don’t forget that donations to In Our Nature before December 31 unlock 4X their value in additional funding to help catalyze the conservation of more high-priority wild places like the Blanche Peninsula. Because it’s in our nature to care about our home!

This project was undertaken with the financial support of the Government of Canada and the Government of Nova Scotia through the Canada-Nova Scotia Nature Agreement.

The Canada-Nova Scotia Nature Agreement is a project of the Province of Nova Scotia. Working with conservation partners, the goal is to increase the amount of protected and conserved areas and advance an integrated approach to the protection, conservation and recovery of biodiversity, including habitat, species at risk and migratory birds, in the Province. The Canada-Nova Scotia Nature Agreement is funded by Environment and Climate Change Canada, through the Canada Nature Fund.