Government and Community Restore Minas Basin Salt Marshes

Two salt marshes off the Minas Basin will once again teem with life thanks to co-operative restoration projects undertaken by the provincial and federal governments and a variety of partners.

The Nova Scotia Department of Transportation and Public Works, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the Ecology Action Centre, Ducks Unlimited Canada, and a number of local residents and community organizations are working together on two projects to restore 37 hectares (91 acres) of salt marsh in Hants County.

These, along with a similar project in New Brunswick, are the first such restorations attempted in the Maritimes and, as such, are attracting national and international interest from groups such as Wildlife Habitat Canada, the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment, and the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation.

"This work will re-create complex marsh environments," said Ron Russell, Minister of Transportation and Public Works. "A wide variety of wildlife, both above and beneath the water, should thrive in the two areas we are restoring."

Geoff Regan, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, remarked on the win-win nature of the initiative. "Too often, human progress carries a high environmental price tag. But I'm happy to say that, with this project, the environment comes out a big winner."

Work has begun on one project which will replace an existing small culvert on Route 215 at Cheverie Creek with a larger one. This will restore full tidal flooding to a 30-hectare salt marsh that, for the last half century, has been only a five-hectare salt marsh. The $1,075,000 contract for this job was awarded to Dexter Construction and the cost will be split equally between the provincial and federal governments.

The other project, which was completed in September, involved opening a dyke on a portion of the Walton River marsh. This returned a 12-hectare freshwater pond back to its original form as a salt marsh.

Both projects will be closely studied during the next five years to document how marshes and adjacent coastal ecosystems evolve.

"Co-operation and partnerships are keys to this project," said Mr. Russell. "In addition to the funding the project has received from the small craft harbours branch of Fisheries and Oceans Canada we've received considerable support from local residents along Route 215, students and teachers of the Dr. Arthur Hines Elementary School, Saint Mary's University, the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources, CB Wetlands and Environmental Specialists, the Unilever-Evergreen Foundation, and the Henry P. Kendall Foundation."