Funding to Help Salmon, Trout in Vital Wild Salmon Watershed

The Province is investing $75,000 from the Sustainable Communities Challenge Fund to protect and enhance the habitat of one of Nova Scotia’s only healthy spring salmon rivers.

“The Cheticamp River is home to endangered Atlantic salmon species, and we want to help them,” said Allan MacMaster, Minister of Finance and Treasury Board and MLA for Inverness, on behalf of Timothy Halman, Minister of Environment and Climate Change. “The project will help ensure one of Nova Scotia’s most important spring salmon rivers is better protected from rising water temperatures.”

With this funding, the Cheticamp River Salmon Association will improve the cold-water habitats that Atlantic salmon require and make it easier for fish to move through the river. Extreme weather events in recent years have led to barriers to fish passage that threaten the salmon population.

The Sustainable Communities Challenge Fund is available to municipalities, non-profit and community organizations, post-secondary institutions, and Mi’kmaw communities to help them respond to and prepare for climate change impacts, and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Quotes:

“Trout, Atlantic salmon and other species are experiencing many challenges related to climate change. The Cheticamp River Salmon Association, the Margaree Salmon Association and the Atlantic Salmon Federation have joined in a new initiative called Wild Salmon Watersheds. The objective will focus on maintaining healthy stream habitat for our iconic fish species for the next 100 years. The Sustainable Communities Challenge Fund was the perfect fit for this project by investing in our efforts to preserve these magnificent Cape Breton rivers which are so important to local culture and economies.”

– René Aucoin, President, Cheticamp River Salmon Association

“The Nova Scotia Federation of Municipalities, through the Sustainable Communities Challenge Fund, is pleased to help address climate change impacts in Cheticamp. This project will improve habitat in one of only two remaining healthy spring salmon rivers in Nova Scotia. The project is funded through the adaptation stream, designed to help communities proactively prepare for and respond to climate change. Protecting this at-risk species contributes to another adaptation goal, reducing the vulnerability and exposure of natural systems to global warming.”

– Juanita Spencer, CEO, Nova Scotia Federation of Municipalities

Quick Facts:

• the Sustainable Communities Challenge Fund was established on October 27, 2021, as part of the Environmental Goals and Climate Change Reduction Act, the government’s legislated commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, respond to climate change, transform how Nova Scotians produce and use energy, make communities more energy efficient, and more
• the government recently announced an additional $15.4 million for the fund, increasing it to $30.4 million for projects over six years
• the Nova Scotia Federation of Municipalities was selected through a request for proposals process to develop and administer the Sustainable Communities Challenge Fund on behalf of the government

Additional Resources:

News release – More Funding to Help Make Communities Resilient to Climate Change: https://novascotia.ca/news/release/?id=20230928001

More information on the Sustainable Communities Challenge Fund is available at: https://nschallengefund.ca/

Environmental Goals and Climate Change Reduction Act: https://nslegislature.ca/sites/default/files/legc/statutes/environmental%20goals%20and%20climate%20change%20reduction.pdf