Standing Up for Our Parks & Protected Areas
“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
—Dr. Seuss, The Lorax
Nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”
The Save Owls Head movement has shown just how powerful we can be when we work together. Whether you prefer writing, painting, photography, songwriting, or something entirely different, there’s always a way to make your voice heard. Here are some suggestions to get you started:
1. Stand up for West Mabou Beach Provincial Park
Twice in the past five years, West Mabou Beach Provincial Park has been saved by people who care. But we can’t afford to keep going through this each time there’s a new government. Nova Scotia needs to update, strengthen, and clarify the Provincial Parks Act in order to save our parks once and for all.
Save West Mabou Beach Email Campaign:
https://ecologyaction.ca/get-involved/take-action/stand-our-parks
Save West Mabou Beach Online Petition:
https://www.change.org/p/protect-west-mabou-beach
Contact Your Elected Representatives
https://saveowlshead.org/action-center/contact-your-elected-representatives/
For more information, check out the Save West Mabou Beach Provincial Park website:
https://www.savewestmaboubeach.com/
2. Learn more about parks and protected areas at risk
Other pending, proposed—and even designated—protected areas remain at risk in Nova Scotia. Right now, we are very concerned about “Owls Head 2.0,” a.k.a., West Mabou Beach Provincial Park. The Cabot group is looking to lease West Mabou Beach and turn the sensitive dune ecosystem in the provincial park into a private golf course. To learn more about the West Mabou Beach Provincial Park issue, please click here.
In addition to the alarming West Mabou Beach Provincial Park proposal, we’re paying close attention to ensure that the remaining ~100 proposed and pending protected areas from the Parks and Protected Areas Plan receive the legal designation that Premier Houston promised.
To see which parks still aren’t protected in your community, go to the government’s interactive map and search for the park. If it comes up as “NS Lands Proposed or Pending Protection,” it’s not legally protected yet—and that needs to change.
3. Write a letter to the editor
Publishing a letter to the editor is an easy and effective way to keep issues you care about in the news. Not sure where to start? Check out our guide.
4. Talk to your MLA
Numerous properties from Our Parks and Protected Areas Plan are still awaiting legal protection, meaning that they, too, could be secretly delisted and sold.
If you want to see what your MLA and/or the winning party had to say on the Owls Head issue, click here.
5. Keep spreading the word
Keep up the pressure for our protected areas by continuing to call radio open hours and sharing new articles and website posts on social media. Talk to your friends and your family, as well as local environmental or community groups.
If you’d like to see some of the past actions and events from our group, please read our Year in Review posts from 2020 and 2021.