Group celebrates National Park designation for Sable Island and counts on strict management plan - Parks and Protected Areas



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75 Albert St, Suite 300
Ottawa, Ontario
K1P 5E7, Canada
Phone: 1-800-267-4088
or 613-562-3447
Fax: 613-562-3371

To protect and conserve wildlife and habitats in Canada by engaging people and advocating on behalf of nature.

May 18, 2010 (Ottawa) – Nature Canada celebrates today's announcement of a new national park in Nova Scotia, fulfilling a January 2010 federal-provincial promise to increase protection of remote Sable Island, located 300 km offshore from Halifax. The Governments of Canada and Nova Scotia promised to increase protection with a national park or national wildlife area designation.

A national park designation signals vastly improved protection of Sable Island's fragile coastal ecosystems and presents a renewed mandate for research and monitoring at the site. However, the park will have to be carefully managed to protect Sable Island's ecological integrity above all else, a legal requirement under the Canada National Parks Act.

"Sable Island contains very sensitive coastal landscapes that are a haven for migrating and nesting birds," said Ian Davidson, Executive Director of Nature Canada. "Protecting the island as a national park is very positive news. However, visitor numbers and off-limits zones must be seriously considered to mitigate human impacts on the area. These and other measures can be achieved in the mandatory park management plan." Davidson indicated that Nature Canada looks forward to participating in the upcoming park consultation process.

Sable Island is a globally important bird habitat that is home to the at-risk Ipswich Sparrow, the endangered Roseate Tern and many other bird species during the breeding season and the spring and fall migrations. The island is recognized as a globally and nationally significant Important Bird Area (IBA) through BirdLife International's Important Bird Areas Program, under which Nature Canada and Bird Studies Canada are co-partners responsible for overseeing IBAs in Canada.

"Recreation, tourism and declining habitat quality have been identified as key concerns for the island through our cooperative Important Bird Areas program," added Davidson. "Nature Canada however welcomes a national park because it provides the type of permanent habitat protection we hope to see for all of Canada's IBAs. But again, a strict management plan is needed."

Find out more about Sable Island and other important bird habitats like it by visiting the national Important Birds Areas website at www.ibacanada.ca.

For more information, contact

Alex MacDonald
Protected Areas Program Manager
Nature Canada
(613) 562-3447 ext. 300
amacdonald@naturecanada.ca

Chris Sutton
Communications Director
Nature Canada
(613) 562-3447 ext. 248
(613) 323-3331 (cell)
csutton@naturecanada.ca

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About Nature Canada

Nature Canada is an Ottawa-based non-profit whose mandate is to protect and conserve wildlife and habitats in Canada by engaging people and advocating on behalf of nature. We are the Canadian co-partner, with Bird Studies Canada, in BirdLife International. Together we deliver the international Important Bird Areas (IBA) program in Canada, which aims to identify, conserve and monitor a network of sites that provides essential habitat for bird populations.