Established in 1968 for the Preservation of Williams Lake
Dear Friends of the Backlands,
This is such good news for our mission to protect the Backlands. As you will read below, the Nova Scotia Nature Trust has a campaign to protect 17 acres of treasured land near Purcells Pond. The Pond is a special place for quiet reflection, swimming and watching wildlife.
The Backlands Coalition, of which the Williams Lake Conservation Company is a member, has submitted detailed comments to the HRM Regional Plan Review as part of the HRM consultation process.
Our submission highlights issues of special importance to HRM, the nearby communities of Spryfield, Williams Lake, Purcells Cove, Fergusons Cove and parts of Herring Cove that surround the Backlands.
Wildfires have slammed our local communities recently and heightened our awareness of the results of human activity on climate change. Besides the practical tasks, such as emergency evacuation preparedness, we are now looking to the science of wetlands as a valuable and available natural defence against wildfires.
Nova Scotians are invited to help shape the approach for protecting 20 percent of the province’s land and water by 2030.
An online public consultation started August 23, at the province’s Collaborative Protected Areas Strategy Engagement page.
The input will be used to develop the Nova Scotia Collaborative Protected Areas Strategy, which will outline how the Province will achieve its 2030 land and water conservation goals and identify next steps.
Sandy Lake and Sackville River form a popular nature space on the edge of Halifax’s urban centre. It’s home to an outstandingly biodiverse community of birds, bugs, flowers, mosses and more, all nestled among some of Nova Scotia’s last remaining old-growth forests.
But the provincial government’s Task Force on Housing in HRM picked the Sandy Lake – Sackville River area as one of its locations to fast-track for housing development, putting this unique and crucial ecosystem at risk.