FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEOctober 8, 2021 Owls Head Provincial Park Court Appeal Bob Bancroft and Eastern Shore Forest Watch Association hope that their case will be the first in Canada to usher in a new age in environmental law in Canada. Respected wildlife biologist Bob Bancroft and local environmental group Eastern Read more…
In his written opinion, file investigator Darrin White took issue with the department’s decision to hold back the documents in the first place.
“The public body failed to properly exercise its discretion and, knowing that public interest and scrutiny was high, did, in fact, use its discretion as a means to withhold information it knew was important to the public.”
… The department appeared to recognize the importance of the information held back because it cited that as a reason for the redaction, he wrote.
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Click to enlarge I’m very happy to share the first results and impressions from our recent scientific survey work in the stunningly dense and beautiful eelgrass beds around Owls Head Provincial Park! We spent about 4 hours in the water to measure and survey eelgrass along 100m of transect and Read more…
Whatever your stance on the proposed Owls Head golf resort, there was some pretty audacious jiggery-pokery in that whole matter, which should raise red flags for anyone who is a fan of democracy.
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Bancroft v. Nova Scotia (Lands and Forestry) 2021 NSSC 234 August 1, 2021 To the people of Mi’kma’ki (Nova Scotia): We would like to extend our gratitude to the applicants—respected wildlife biologist Bob Bancroft and local environmental group Eastern Shore Forest Watch Association—for standing up for Nova Scotia’s parks and Read more…
From CPAWS NS:
(more…)CPAWS Nova Scotia is excited to share this information. On our kayak expedition to Owls Head last week, we observed an endangered leatherback sea turtle. It was feeding on jellyfish very close to shore, about 20-30 feet out from the shoreline, in the deeper waters near the headland.
Despite its incredible benefits to the oceans and to our fisheries, nearly one-third of seagrass worldwide has been lost in the past century alone. Here in Nova Scotia, we have an incredible opportunity to protect it.
Contributed by Dr. Kristina Boerder
June 8, 2021
World Oceans Day
We have a treasure right in front of our doorstep that few people know about — eelgrass beds, a remarkable coastal ecosystem under the waves, just steps off the coast. Very few people know that eelgrass provides critically important ecosystem services, including supporting our fisheries, helping to prevent coastal and beach erosion, and storing carbon. The UN has even declared eelgrass meadows a “secret weapon” in the fight against climate change. Unfortunately, seagrass meadows are also one of the world’s most threatened ecosystems. It is estimated that the world loses up to 2 football fields worth of seagrass each hour. That’s the equivalent of 336 football fields each week.
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Owls Head Provincial Park has been a candidate for legal protection since the 1970s. It was a key component of the Eastern Shore Seaside Park System, Our Parks and Protected Areas Plan, and more. Today, we look back on its extensive history and the government decisions that brought us here.