Protecting LaHave Wildlife

We see nature where it is –– often hiding in plain sight. See the Great Blue Heron in the photo above.

Since pre-historic times, people have thrived alongside these Atlantic coastal habitats, and now, the environment needs us. The Mi’kmaq called the LaHave River by the name Pijinuiskaq, the river of long branches.[1] A Mi’kmaq sagamore (chief) from the LaHave area named Messamouet visited the Basque country in southern France in the mid-1500s.[2] As trade continued to develop, a group of French aristocrats settled around the LaHave River in 1632 and made it the capital of New France for a few years.[3]

Samuel de Champlain wrote “Cape La Heve is a place where there is a bay containing several islands covered with firs, and a great tract of oaks, young elms and birches.”[4]

As more settlers came over the intervening four hundred years, natural resource extraction continued to be the primary economic driver for the entire province. This is changing. In the 1990s, overfishing caused the cod fishery to collapse.[5] Coal mining and pulp and paper have also declined.[6] Tourism has become an economic priority for Nova Scotia.[7]

Today, the local community is increasingly aware of the challenges facing local wildlife. Contamination of the river has become a call to action for many residents of the area.[8][9]

LCCA joins several other conservancies focused on protecting local habitats. The Kingsburg Coastal Conservancy focuses on the region north of the LaHave River near the town of Kingsburg. The Mahone Island Conservation Association focuses on the islands in Mahone Bay. The Friends of Crescent Beach focus on protecting the long, sandy Crescent Beach that connects the LaHave Islands to the shore Highway 331. The Nova Scotia Nature Trust has recently engaged with the Municipality of the District of Lunenburg to steward Cape LaHave Island.