The Backlands Coalition

Received from EAC:

“A Protecting Wetlands Workshop cohosted by the Ecology Action Centre, Nature Nova Scotia and Halifax Regional Municipality, [will be] taking place on World Wetlands Day (Thursday February 2) from 9:00am to 12:30pm at the Captain Spry Centre in Halifax. To register for the morning session use this link:https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=B4ytwUMUokqYQUBKkBSIlgqELyam8z9Mptu5wN-Dey9UNjVTN1ozRFhDTEM4TkFXTlZVQ1lDOFBYTi4u

“This workshop will bring together a variety of stakeholders throughout the HRM who have interests in Nova Scotia wetlands and wetland management. This exploratory and collaborative workshop will include brief presentations about different aspects of wetlands in Nova Scotia, followed by activities for participants to brainstorm and discuss ideas of visions for future wetlands management.

“Later in the day, from 6:30pm to 8:30pm, the Ecology Action Centre and Nature Nova Scotia will be hosting a similar workshop geared towards the public. During both workshops there will be an opportunity for local groups and organizations to set up a small exhibition table with posters or other educational materials for workshop participants to look at.”

Join us for this Nature NS Talk:
“The Chebucto Peninsula and Moose Habitat Connectivity”
Tues Jan 10th at 7 pm. Recorded on YouTube

UPDATE Jan 10, 2023
A few items of interest from the webinar:
– The main reasons for excluding the Chebucto Peninusla from the CORE areas for Mainland Moose are, to paraphrase, (i) the  low number of moose, on the Chebucto Peninsula even in better times, and (ii) the very poor connectivity between the interior of the Chebucto Peninsula and the greater NS mainland due to development/major highways along the neck of the peninsula. The target is to bring the population up to 5000 animals province-wide and the Chebucto Peninsula will simply not play a significant role in reaching that target.  K.B., a member of the Moose Recovery Team said she strongly advocated for including the Chebucto Peninusula as a CORE area, but understood the reasons that was rejected by the team as a whole and she noted that nevertheless, the moose on the Chebucto Peninsula are still  protected.

The Chebucto Peninsula, courtesy of Plasma_east

– There was a lot of discussion of the need  for increasing wildlife connectivity between the Chebucto Peninsula and the greater NS mainland regardless of the moose issue.  Concern was expressed that the NS Government is not giving much attention to this issue, e.g. as massive new road building is announced.
– C.C. emphasized the importance of ‘building up, not out’ in urban areas so as reduce impacts on wildlife habitat in more rural areas; social equity is part of the issue as well.
– M.L. noted that a lot of the interior of Chebucto Peninsula is roadless and protected;  development occurs mostly around the periphery. Significantly, the interior generally hosts very few white-tailed deer*
*Low deer numbers are very much a positive benefit for moose because of the role of deer in propagating moose brainworm.
– M.L., who knows the area well and has been looking for moose and signs of moose (especially their browse of red maple), is confident that there are at least 5 animals on the Chebucto Peninsula currently, and that there has been calving in recent years. He observed a dead moose this past December, the death apparently due to natural causes (he mentioned predation) rather than poaching. Continue reading →

From  Nova Scotia Nature Trust*:

“We’re excited to announce six new protected areas across the province that will be secured before the end of 2022, from Cape Breton to the south shore. On the heels of the recent COP15 United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, halting biodiversity loss has never felt more urgent, with world leaders now aligned on a global target to protect 30 per cent of the planet by 2030. This announcement is a timely step toward that ambitious goal…The Nature Trust’s newest protected areas include:

• Little Charles Island at the heart of the 100 Wild Islands archipelago (Eastern Shore)
• An addition to the 4,500 acres of coastal wilderness protected in the Mabou Highlands (Cape Breton)
• New protected urban wilderness in the Purcells Cove backlands (Kjipuktuk-Halifax)
• Critical habitat for endangered plants on Ponhook Lake (Kespukwitk-southwest Nova Scotia)
• More protected habitat for at-risk birds and rare eastern white cedar in the growing Hectanooga conservation land assemblage
• (Kespukwitk-Southwest Nova Scotia)
• And Blanche Island, another important link on the Atlantic migratory flyway, critical for many bird species facing significant population declines (Kespukwitk-Southwest Nova Scotia)”.

Continue reading →