Nature Nova Scotia is a federation of natural history societies and other environmental groups in Nova Scotia. We operate to support networking, research, education, and advocacy initiatives for nature. Here's a bit of what we've been up to recently:
Advocacy
In 2020, our hobby naturalists took the Nova Scotia government to court for failure to follow the NS Endangered Species Act, and won! We are now following every court-mandated action to deliver action for those species at risk and updating our followers on progress made to date. Much still needs to be done, however. The mainland moose is still unprotected in Nova Scotia, migratory birds including species at risk are threatened by unsustainable forestry practices, and biodiversity is not prioritized in policy, practice, or curriculum.
In 2021, we joined the fight to save Owls Head Provincial Park. In March of 2019, the Nova Scotia government secretly removed Owls Head Provincial Park from Our Parks and Protected Areas Plan in order to enter into a Letter of Offer with a private developer. On April 1, 2021, biologist Bob Bancroft and Eastern Shore Forest Watch Association took the provincial government to court over the delisting. Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Christa Brothers recognized several important points in the case but ultimately ruled that there is “no recognized common law duty of procedural fairness owed by the Crown to the public at large.” Bob and Eastern Shore Forest Watch Association went back to the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal to fight for Owls Head Provincial Park and a new age of environmental law in Canada. In 2023, we joined other environmental groups to stand up for West Mabou Beach provincial park, after yet another secretive private development offer. In 2024, we're launched a new campaign to make changes to the Nova Scotia Provincial Parks Act, to make sure the same thing doesn't happen to another public wildnerness. We are continuing that fight in 2025.
Following the recommendations of the recently updated Recovery Plan for the Mainland Moose, in 2022 we began raising funds for vital research activities informing moose conservation action, which we are now using to support a network of citizen-monitored trail cameras and a public knowledge survey. We are also advocating for the end of clearcutting and similar practices on crown lands, which threaten endangered species like the mainland moose, and for the official designation of moose Core Habitat. In 2025, we want to expand our trail camera network, involve more citizens in searching for the elusive moose, and engage more Nova Scotians in advocacy for habitat protection.
Finally, in 2022, we also launched a judicial review over the federal government's changed approach to habitat protections for the endangered piping plover. In the 2022 update to the federal piping plover Recovery Strategy, government adopted a “bounding box” approach to habitat identification, meaning that instead of protecting the whole beach for piping plover habitat, as was the prescription previously, only small areas that meet a certain set of criteria will be recommended for protection. Ecojustice, on behalf of East Coast Environmental Law and Nature Nova Scotia, launched a judicial review in late 2022 of the federal government’s weakened approach to habitat identification for piping plovers. A win in this case could see the government revert to the more comprehensive way it identified habitat for plovers in 2012. We are finally going to court in Spring 2025 to fight for the piping plover.
You can help us give nature a voice this year by donating and supporting our advocacy work.
Networking and Outreach
We host the symposium for naturalists, the Celebration of Nature, every year in a new exciting location, somewhere in Nova Scotia. We bring natural history learning alive with thrilling talks, hands on education programing, and networking sessions for the natural history and conservation community. We also run a monthly Nature Talk series, profiling interesting natural spaces and conservation issues around the province through a guest speaker, panel discussion, or Q&A session.
You can help us grow the nature network each year by joining us at this event, becoming a member, or donating to ours or our member societies' outreach projects.
Education
We support several educational initiatives for youth interested in Nova Scotia's natural history. In 2020, we launched the Nature Art and Writing Contest, with cash prizes for nature loving and creative young naturalists. The Celebration of Nature includes a youth program every year, complete with kid-friendly presentations, trivia, experiments and more! In 2021, we started partnering with the Young Naturalists Club and ISANS on guided walks and hikes for New Canadians and, in 2022, we launched the HRM Naturalist Project, a pilot program engaging BIPOC and new Canadian youth in natural history training to help grow and diversify the nature network in Nova Scotia. In 2023 we launched our newest youth program designed to foster conservation action among young people already interested and knowledgeable of our natural history, Turning Young Naturalists Into Activists, and continue this work today thanks to support from Nature Canada and donors like you. In 2025, we want to expand our formal education program through the creation of new lesson plans and engaging more school and after-school groups.
You can support our work engaging the next generation of conservationists by donating or volunteering to lead an event. You can also donate to our long-time partner, the Young Naturalists Club, at www.yncns.ca
Stewardship and Research
We support conservation research and land management projects in Nova Scotia by mobilizing citizen scientists and land stewards into action. We are a founding member of the Bird Friendly Halifax Coalition, participate annually in the global City Nature Challenge, continue to contribute to atlas projects like the Nova Scotia Herp atlas, and are spearheading a Big Tree database. In 2022, we started raising funds for much needed moose research, following recommendations of the new Recovery Plan, and now engage over 50 citizen scientists for moose monitoring. We launched Operation Window Strike with the support of friends at the Bird Friendly Halifax Coalition, distributing anti-window-strike kits to residents of the Halifax core, and hope to engage more residents of our largest city in action for bird conservation in 2025.
You can support our stewardship and research work by joining us at our events, donating to our projects, or by becoming a member and helping us guide our priorities from year to year!
Learn more at www.naturens.ca
