Southwest Nova Scotia island a newly protected habitat

Anjuli Patil · CBC News

· Posted: May 09, 2025 2:02 PM EDT | Last Updated: 8 minutes ago

The Nature Trust of Nova Scotia says it has preserved an land successful southwest Nova Scotia.

It announced connected Friday that Johns Island, conscionable westbound of Central Woods Harbour, volition supply 68 hectares of land to migratory birds.

"Protecting the entirety of Johns Island is simply a cleanable illustration of the benignant of conservation occurrence that makes a existent and contiguous quality to Nova Scotia's beloved birds," the quality spot stated successful its quality release.

It noted Johns Island is "a captious stopover" on 1 of 4 main North American 'bird superhighways." 

The spot noted Johns Island — known locally arsenic St. Johns Island — gives birds nutrient and harmless places to remainder during migration.

Johns Island is besides a nesting tract for respective vertebrate taxon astatine risk, the spot noted. It said a communal eider colony recovered determination is thought to beryllium the largest successful the province. 

The land is an important foraging tract for the endangered roseate terns. It is believed large bluish herons nest there.

Protection of the land was made imaginable with enactment from the national government, with further backing from the Nova Scotia Crown Share Land Legacy Trust.

Although Johns Island is present protected, the spot noted birds successful Nova Scotia and worldwide are "still astatine tremendous risk."

"Habitat nonaccomplishment is 1 of the main driving factors successful their decline, making the Nature Trust's conservation enactment captious to their survival," the spot said.