The windswept dunes of Sable Island, a remote spot off Nova Scotia known for its wild horses and shipwrecks, are a step closer to gaining federal protection.
The federal and provincial governments announced an agreement Monday to designate the sandy island 290 kilometres southeast of Halifax as a national park reserve. They will also table legislation prohibiting surface drilling for oil or gas within one nautical mile of the island.
Sable was once known as the “graveyard of the Atlantic.” Its shifting shoals sank hundreds of ships; thousands of sailors drowned there. But in recent decades the spot has gained an international reputation for wild beauty and ecological importance.
“It punches above its weight class when it comes to conservation significance,” said Chris Miller, biologist with the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, which works with local conservation groups to help protect the island. “Sable has fallen [through] the cracks for a long time. The national park designation should help.”
The designation, which still must go through Parliament, has been percolating for several years. It could be formally proclaimed within months.
Such a designation would put Sable Island under the authority of Parks Canada, but may not preclude the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans from reducing the grey seal population, which some believe is impeding the recovery of ground fish stocks. Tentative proposals include giving a contraceptive vaccine to females or culling hundreds of thousands of seals.
“I think most Canadians do view national parks as protected spaces, the few areas where wild animals can be safe, and unfortunately that is not the case,” said Rebecca Aldworth, executive director of Humane Society International/Canada. “National parks throughout the country allow culls to be conducted and … it’s certainly far from assured that seals will be spared the same fate if Department of Fisheries and Oceans determines a cull is warranted.”
A call to Parks Canada for comment was answered by a statement noting that “no decisions have been made regarding how the seals may be managed in the future once the island has been designated a national park.”
Conservationists are also concerned that the proposed drilling buffer rules would allow a rig to bore horizontally from outside the exclusion zone. In January of 2010, then-environment minister Jim Prentice promised to protect the island. Consultations have been under way since May of last year, when the federal and provincial governments accepted a proposal to turn Sable Island into a park.
The move was welcomed by some, but others worried this would bring tourism and dangerous development to the fragile ecosystem. Access is strictly regulated by the Canadian Coast Guard, and fewer than 100 people are estimated to visit annually under the current system.
Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter called the island “a place of amazing beauty and nature.”“Sable Island holds a special place in the hearts of Nova Scotians, and Canadians across the country,” he said in a statement.