Most Nova Scotians want more land to be protected: new survey

The Archibald Lake Wilderness Area, part of which is seen in an undated handout photo, will cover nearly 700 hectares of old-growth forest, lakes and wetland, including Archibald Lake, McDonald and Rocky Lake, which feed into Archibald Brook, a tributary of the St. Mary's River. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-, Government of Nova Scotia Communications)

Most Nova Scotians feel more land should be protected in the province, according to a new poll from Narrative Research.

The survey shows 67 per cent of residents say the province should create more protected wilderness areas.

International efforts are in place to stop the rapid loss of nature and biodiversity, and Canada has committed to reach 30 per cent legal land protection by 2030.

Nova Scotia has committed to reach 20 per cent by that time and is currently at 14 per cent, according to the survey.

The survey asked 517 residents if the province should have more, fewer, or the same amount of protected wilderness area.

The respondents overwhelmingly supported protected areas, even when weighed against other considerations like industrial use:

• 67 per cent said more protected wilderness areas
• 27 per cent said the same amount of protected wilderness areas
• 3 per cent said fewer protected wilderness areas
• 3 per cent said they had no opinion

The results are in line with past polling, according to a news release from the Ecology Action Centre.

“A clear majority of Nova Scotians want the provincial government to honour its commitments to protect more land,” says Raymond Plourde, member of the Ecology Action Centre, in the news release.

“The Houston government started out strong during their first term, designating dozens of new protected areas,” reads the news release, pointing to the Archibald Lake Wilderness and the Island Lake Wilderness areas.

“However, progress designating new sites since then has slowed dramatically as government focus has shifted to resource extraction.”

Plourde calls on the provincial government to listen to the Nova Scotians surveyed.

“This is a sacred trust from present to future generations, and the government must meet that trust. The Houston government needs to accelerate their efforts and protect more public land quickly. We only have three and a half years left to get there,” he says.

For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page