Stop the sale of this public coastal ecosystem to private interests
Reports and articles from scientists on the high biodiversity of Owls Head Provincial Park Reserve
Richard Bell
Eastern Shore Cooperator
Published online on December 1, 2020
View on the Eastern Shore Cooperator’s website
In the latest round in the fight to stop the province from turning Owls Head Provincial Park into an American billionaire’s three private golf courses and acres of luxury housing, the Department of Lands and Forestry (L&F) released another round of documents with dramatic new information.
Recently, CPAWS NS and a team of volunteers completed numerous underwater transects to document the eelgrass beds at Owls Head Provincial Park. CPAWS NS has been undertaking scientific surveys at Owls Head all summer. Thank you to CPAWS NS for your work to protect this special marine ecosystem. Thank you also to Dr. Kristina Boerder and Simon Ryder-Burbidge for sharing their photos with us.
Continue reading “Eelgrass Exploration”
This article has been republished with permission in the January edition of the Eastern Shore Cooperator.
Biodiversity (a contraction of “biological diversity”) comprises all life on Earth. Greater species diversity supports healthier ecosystems and even improved human health.
Continue reading “Ecological Life Support”“We are in the midst of both climate and biological diversity (extinction) emergencies, wherein we are at or beyond planetary thresholds for being able to recover. Such intact ecosystems as Owls Head are our ecological life-support systems. We need them in order to survive as a species, as do the other species with which we share this land, many of which are endangered1.”
Dr. Karen Beazley
Photos were taken by Simon Ryder-Burbidge in Owls Head Provincial Park Reserve & surrounding areas. Please click to enlarge.
Continue reading “A Closer Look at Owls Head Reserve: Photos by Simon Ryder-Burbidge”
Photo courtesy of CPAWS NS
This summer, CPAWS-NS has visited Owls Head numerous times. Accompanied by a range of biodiversity experts, we have been completing a series of surveys to record the rich natural diversity of this coastal headland.
Our team has identified over 75 species of birds that occur here, undertaking surveys from the land and on the water. Later this month, we’ll be out again with our snorkels, studying eelgrass beds in the area.
Continue reading “Back at Owls Head”
Richard Bell
Eastern Shore Cooperator
July 13, 2020
At a hearing before Supreme Court Judge Kevin Coady on June 29, opponents of the province’s plan to destroy Owls Head Provincial Park learned that the fate of the 600-plus acres of coastal land may hinge on the narrowest of legal points
On December 18, 2019, CBC’s Michael Gorman wrote that through a Freedom of Information request, he had learned that the Cabinet, acting on a request from the Department of Lands and Forestry, had delisted Owls Head Provincial Park on March 13, 2019, but had hidden the decision from the public.
Continue reading “Owls Head Dancing on the Head of a Pin”