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rfmcdonaldSable Island three hundred kilometres southeast of Nova Scotia, a giant sand dune really, 42 kilometres long but only 1.5 kilometres at its widest, that stands out for its unique ecology including the feral Sable Island pony and a rich history as an outpost for wreckers and a site for numerous failed attempts at colonization. It's a fragile environment, and a unique environment. Fortunately, it's about to gain protection by becoming a national park.
Visits to the island will be restricted on account of the ecological fragility, although I hope that the federal government won't yield to the demands of hopeful potential ecotourists.
Federal Environment Minister Jim Prentice said the process to make the ecologically sensitive spit of land in the North Atlantic a national park will begin next month with public consultations.
The island, about 300 kilometres southeast of Nova Scotia, is known as the Graveyard of the Atlantic, because it is ringed by 300 years of ship wrecks. At least 223 ships are known to have wrecked off the island.
Sable Island is also home to about 400 wild horses, descendants of animals brought to the island during the late 1700s.
The island is also a breeding ground for seals and birds, including the endangered Ipswich sparrow.
It is a fragile habitat, and Prentice said making the 40-kilometre strip of sand dunes a national park will give it the protection it needs.
"By having Sable Island designated as a national park, we have the greatest protection possible," he said in Ottawa.
Visits to the island will be restricted on account of the ecological fragility, although I hope that the federal government won't yield to the demands of hopeful potential ecotourists.
