Bay of Fundy sites to be nominated for conservation recognition
Nature Conservancy of Canada to make the nomination
One of the world’s most extraordinary wildlife migrations passes through the Bay of Fundy every year—and new research shows co-ordinated conservation efforts are needed to ensure this natural wonder continues.
Every July and August more than one quarter of the global population of semipalmated sandpipers arrives in the Bay of Fundy from the Canadian Arctic. The sandpipers return to the same coastal areas in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick each summer to rest and refuel for the next and most difficult leg of their journey. The tiny birds feed furiously on mud shrimp and other prey found on the Bay of Fundy’s rich mudflats, doubling their weight in a few weeks, which in turn fuels their migration to South America in late summer. Because semipalmated sandpipers can’t swim, they have no ability to rest on their ocean crossing to South America, and every one of the 20 grams they gain in the Bay of Fundy is needed if they are to survive the non-stop three-day flight.
Results of new research conducted by Mount Allison University, Environment and Climate Change Canada and international researchers - aided by tiny radio transmitters attached to migrating birds - confirms the need for more recognition and protection for the Bay of Fundy’s globally significant shorebird feeding areas. It’s an important project because migratory shorebird populations have declined dramatically since the early 1970s: at one time it was estimated that more than one million semipalmated sandpipers used the Bay of Fundy each year; current estimates suggest numbers between 290,000 and 400,000.
To help protect the sandpipers, scientists have been tracking where they rest and feed, and the results show semipalmated sandpipers are more reliant on beaches and mudflats in Debert (near Truro) and Minudie (near Amherst) than previously understood.
Based on this research, the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) is working on a project to get greater recognition for Sand pipers in flight.
these two critical areas, as well as two others at Johnson’s Mills and Avonport that have already been recognized. NCC is now in the process of nominating all four Bay of Fundy sites for designation as a Landscape of Hemispheric Importance, within the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network (WHSRN), an international science-based program that coordinates conservation efforts for shorebirds. This designation will not change activities permitted on privatelyowned land, but it will provide a stronger structure for NCC, other conservation organizations, landowners, and all levels of government to work together to protect migratory birds.
Migratory shorebirds are facing multiple threats in multiple countries and they need the support of international organizations like WHSRN and its partners. Launched in 1986, the WHSRN network now includes 102 sites in 16 countries. More than 30 years ago, WHSRN helped coalesce conservation efforts in the Bay of Fundy—including helping the Nature Conservancy of Canada establish our Johnson’s Mills Nature Reserve and Shorebird Interpretive Centre near Sackville, New Brunswick. Over the years WHSRN recognition, along with the Government of Canada’s Natural Areas Conservation Program, has enabled NCC to expand our shorebird reserve to 562 acres (227 hectares). Every summer Johnson’s Mills provides a refuge for tens of thousands of shorebirds, as well as an ideal vantage point for the 3000 nature enthusiasts who travel from near and far to see them.
The Nature Conservancy of Canada latest collaborative project with WSHRN involves raising awareness about the key shorebird sites in the Bay of Fundy and the Landscape of Hemispheric Importance nomination. Over the next few months we will be meeting with local municipal councils, community groups, First Nations, and private landowners to inform them about the importance of the Bay of Fundy’s habitats for shorebirds, in particular the beaches and mudflats at Minudie and Amherst Point in the Cumberland Basin, and at Debert, Little Dyke, Fort Belcher, and Old Barns in Cobequid Bay. We will also be seeking local support for the Landscape of Hemispheric Importance designation—which we believe will not only benefit shorebirds, it will boost nature-based tourism Proposed Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network expansion sites.
in Bay of Fundy communities.
Recognition of the Bay of Fundy’s globally-significant habitats is urgently needed to help stabilize shorebird populations, which have declined significantly in the last 50 years. The threats to shorebirds are complex and challenging: habitat loss, urbanization, shoreline development, and climate change. For the semipalmated sandpiper-- hunting is still a threat in parts of South America where it winters. An important step in protecting this and
other shorebird species is local and international recognition for their habitats-including the feeding areas and resting beaches in Nova Scotia--and making sure these habitats remain undisturbed. With the understanding of individuals, the cooperation of communities and the good will of governments, Nova Scotians can play a role as global leaders in shorebird conservation.