rfmcdonald | [ISL] "Sable Island: A national park that we could love to death" (Reply)

Sable Island, a small island that's literally nothing but a sand dune a couple hundred kilometres southeast of the Nova Scotian mainland, is--as I noted last May--set to become a national park. Writing in the Toronto Star, Alyshah Hasham notes the fears of many that the exceptional fragility of Sable Island--ostensible cause for the National Park designation--may lead to catastrophe when tourists come to visit the newest national park in large numbers.

“You can easily love the island to death,” said Mark Butler, policy director of the Ecological Action Centre.

He and other conservationists fear that the expected influx of tourists eager to see the stark beauty of the island for themselves could harm the fragile ecosystem.

The island usually gets between 50 to 250 visitors a year.

Parks Canada has not yet decided how they will open the national park to the public, says spokesperson Julie Tompa. As a site management plan is being developed to ensure the island is protected and the best visitor experience possible is provided.

Meanwhile the old restrictions for hopeful visitors remain the same — except that written requests must be submitted to Parks Canada rather than the director of Maritime Services.

If permission is granted, don’t feed the horses — a key point in the 2006 visitors guide drafted by Gerry Forbes, one of the island’s two permanent residents. Forbes works at the island’s meteorological centre run by Environment Canada.

Other stipulations: all garbage brought onto island must go off again. There is no camping permitted. And great care must be taken of the diverse wildlife — include the rare Ipswich sparrow.

The guide also requests that “should you find yourself under attack by a shark, please try to note identifying features. If you survive, researchers would like to know which shark species was responsible.”