Sikniktuk Adventure Day showcases New Brunswick’s salt marshes, coastal beauty

Adventure Day highlights New Brunswick’s most beautiful, but lesser-known landscapes.

It was a perfect fall day to visit some of New Brunswick’s most beautiful, but lesser-known landscapes.

The first Sikniktuk Adventure Day was held Saturday, a day-long outdoor experience to visit some of the province’s most stunning coastal habitats.

Terrestrial ecologist Lyle Vicaire brought around 15 nature lovers by bus from Elsipogtog First Nation to the Cape Jourimain Nature Centre in Bayfield, the Beaubassin Research Station near Aulac and the Nature Conservancy of Canada Shorebird Interpretive Centre in Johnson’s Mills.

“The whole goal of today is to show people our beautiful land that is in our backyard and some of the areas that people may not think about and visit,” said Vicaire.

Vicaire is the founder of the Sikniktuk Climate Adaptation Project, an Indigenous-led conservation effort that is trying to preserve the province’s coastal ecosystems around the inner Bay of Fundy and Northumberland Strait.

According to the project’s website, close to $1 million in funding was secured over a three-year period (2023 to 2026) to allow the initiative to purchase coastal lands within the Sikniktuk region with the goal of protecting and possibly restoring them.

“We want to purchase up to 100 hectares of coastal land for future conservation that will be donated to a Mi’kmaq land trust,” said Vicaire.

Sikniktuk is named for a district of Mi’kmaq land that that covers southeast New Brunswick and the area across the border of Nova Scotia and is home to diverse coastal ecosystems like mudflats, salt marshes and sand dunes.

Vicaire is hoping to get people interested in the coastal ecosystems of the province, particularly the Chignecto Isthmus.

Vicaire said it’s great that hundreds of thousands of people visit places like Kouchibouguac and Fundy national parks every year, but the salt marshes of the Chignecto Isthmus area are worth a visit too.

“Those are very beautiful places, we’re very fortunate to have those places here in Sikniktuk, but sometimes people forget about places that we’re going to today,” said Vicaire.

The group began the day at Cape Jourimain under beautiful sunny skies and walked the trails and visited the beach next to Confederation Bridge.

Joining Vicaire on the adventure day were Naomi Meed of the Fundy Biosphere and Jade Atkins from the Joggins Fossil Cliffs & Centre.

Atkins role was to share the geological history of the area.

“Salt marshes are absolutely in danger,” said Atkins. “Prior to the French colonization in the 1600s, Cumberland County I believe was almost 10 per cent salt marshes, today it’s under six per cent.”

Meed said Saturday’s event was an opportunity to teach the public about wetlands, specifically salt marshes and the value of those ecosystems while making the public aware erosion is a common problem all along the Chignecto Isthmus.

“This is a land bridge between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. This is a place where there is a lot of movement of wildlife across this area,” said Meed. “It’s not just specifically the salt marsh that people need to be aware of, but the whole connected area that serves as an ecological corridor for wildlife through these two provinces which was historically known as Sikniktuk.”

Atkins would like to see more Indigenous engagement and Indigenous-led climate action like what Vicaire is doing with his project.

“You know Mi’kmaq have been here for time immemorial and I think that bringing them on as partners for this land, this is unceded Mi’kma’ki, is really important to help combat climate change and to help keep this area habitable for everyone,” said Atkins.

Vicaire’s main goal is to educate people about climate change that is happening right in their own backyards.

“It’s a very, very ecologically unique area and we have the opportunities to help fight the ongoing climate crisis with nature-based solutions here in Sikniktuk,” said Vicaire.

The Siknuktuk Climate Adaptation Project is a collaboration between the Nature Conservancy of Canada, Nature NB, CB Wetlands & Environmental Specialists, Joggins Fossil Institute and EOS Eco-Energy Sackville.

According to the project’s website, $933,000 in funding was provided by Environment Canada and Environment and Climate Change Canada.

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