Owls Head Provincial Park: Thousands are Standing up for Nature in Nova Scotia
Owls Head Provincial Park (OHPP), a unique environment in the community of Little Harbour, on Nova Scotia’s Eastern Shore, is at the heart of a passionate fight.
The battle started in December 2019, when journalist Michael Gorman (CBC) revealed the provincial government’s intention to sell the land to an American developer. Without consulting or even informing citizens in any way.
Reaction to the shocking news was swift. Less than 24 hours after CBC broke the news, Sydnee McKay, who grew up next to the park, started the Save Owls Head Provincial Park campaign on Facebook.
The grassroots movement has been growing ever since. Today, thousands of Nova Scotians and members of the Mi’kmaq community are joining forces to stop the sale of public land that was meant to be conserved.
Owls Head Provincial Park: An Irreplaceable Piece of Canada’s Natural Heritage
The uniqueness of Owls Head Provincial Park, Little Harbour, attracts many scientists to its shores. Marine biologist Dr. Kristina Boerder, from Dalhousie University, is one of them.
“I’ve been to many places in Nova Scotia, and this is by far the most stunning landscape I’ve seen here,” she exclaims during our Zoom call, her eyes glowing with enthusiasm. “At every turn, there’s new scenery.”
Sure enough, OHPP comprises an impressive assortment of forests, wetlands, coastal ridges and white sandy beaches.
It is home to the coastal broom crowberry heathland, a rare ecosystem that can only be found in eastern North America.
The park’s offshore ecosystems are just as remarkable. Dr. Kristina, along with volunteer scientists, goes snorkelling there.
“The marine environment is gorgeous,” she explains. “The water is clear, so you can look down and see lobsters. And there are all these nooks and coves to go in.”
Dr. Kristina’s research at OHPP focuses on eelgrass beds, seagrass meadows that provide habitat and food to an impressive number of fish, crustaceans and invertebrates.
“Looking at the eelgrass beds, life becomes obvious after a little while,” she says. “The more we look, the more we see. In a square meter, there are dozens of species.”
And that’s not the only benefit, or service, these plants are known for. They also have amazing carbon absorption capacities, which far exceed those of forests.
As Dr. Kristina explains in an article published in The Nova Scotia Advocate, “[a]bout 0.8 hectares of eelgrass can absorb as much carbon as at least 10 to 40 hectares of forest.”
The presence of eelgrass beds, together with the park’s forested wetlands, salt marshes and bogs, (all carbon-absorption champions), makes the park a climate change-mitigating powerhouse.
Owls Head Provincial Park for Sale: The Rug Pulled out from Under Nova Scotians’ Feet
With its diverse landscapes, the rare species it shelters and its great potential to mitigate climate change, Owls Head Provincial Park is one of Canada’s most precious treasures.
This area’s conservation value has been known for a long time; consultations about the park’s future began in the 1970s. Experts, citizens, industry representatives, environmental organizations and the Assembly of Mi’kmaq Chiefs all contributed.
Through the years, a clear, enthusiastic consensus emerged: this piece of natural heritage needed to be conserved. And the government agreed to bring this about.
Accordingly, in 1978, it included the park as part of the Eastern Shore Seaside Park System, a project supported by the local communities.
From then on, the Owls Head environment became known as a “provincial park”. It was referred to as an existing provincial park in official documents, and managed as one by the Lands and Forestry Department of Nova Scotia.
And in 2013, the provincial government took another step towards the fulfilment of its longtime promise. Building on years of consultations, it included OHPP in its Parks and Protected Areas Plan.
But, in March 2019, upon the “confidential” request of Beckwith Gilbert, Director and President of the Lighthouse Links Development Co., it was quite simply “delisted” from the 2013 Plan. So he would be able to buy it.
Just like that, the common vision was scrapped, and the rug pulled out from under Nova Scotians’ feet. A reality which they would become aware of nine months later, thanks to an anonymous whistle-blower.
In response to the general surprise that a provincial park would be sold off to private interests, the (then) provincial Liberal government replied that it had never actually been protected.
Because, as it turns out, the promise to conserve it was never followed through. So, unbeknownst to most, OHPP had only been “pending protection”.
As bad as this is, it gets worse.
Mr. Gilbert not only already owns 20+ properties in Little Harbour, but he’d also be getting this one at an absurdly low price.
According to the grassroots Save Owls Head Provincial Park, “based on a valuation report commissioned by the potential developer, [the land] has been assessed at a mere $306/acre.”
Which means Lighthouse Links Development Co. (LLD) could buy Owls Head Provincial Park, a 704-acre property, for the paltry sum of $216,000.
A price that, members of the local community say, they themselves aren’t allowed to dream of.
And which, considering how truly valuable the land is, makes very little sense. Especially when you take into account that Mr. Gilbert’s project for it, the building of golf courses, would irrevocably damage it.
As Dr. Kristina explained in a Q&A about marine ecosystems: “Due to the unique rugged landscape of Owls Head, extreme habitat alteration will be necessary to achieve a landscape suitable for golf.”
Sure enough, the 2018 proposal from LLD mentions the necessity of “earth moving/ledge removal and covering the area with sand, which must be trucked onto the site.”
Among other adverse effects, the use of infill, Dr. Kristina goes on to explain, will “increase the amount of run-off into nearby lakes, streams, and coastal waters.”
And this would have dire impacts on OHPP’s eelgrass beds, by reducing the amount of sunlight they have access to.
Save Owls Head Provincial Park: An Unprecedented Grassroots Movement
The secrecy, misrepresentations and absurdity of it all have left many Nova Scotians feeling betrayed.
“I learned about it by reading Michael Gorman’s article,” explains editor Lindsay Lee, an administrator of the saveowlshead.org website.
“This was the line in the sand for me, and it wasn’t too long before I started campaigning.”
Together with other concerned citizens, Lindsay joined the nascent Save Owls Head Provincial Park (SOHPP) movement.
Today, she manages the website, the email inbox, the Instagram account, and helps lead the Facebook group.
A heavy workload, for sure, but Lindsay is willing to go the extra mile to protect something as important as OHPP.
“In Nova Scotia, we have beautiful wild landscapes, but we sometimes take them for granted,” she says. “I mean, a provincial park is being sold off. It’s ludicrous.”
Aromatherapist Jodie Turner is just as baffled.
“To lose this precious, biodiverse land for high-end, exclusive, seasonal fun time for billionaires! This is out of control,” she exclaims during our Zoom meeting.
Jodie has been the mind behind the SOHPP meme-oriented Twitter account, which she launched in April 2021.
In addition to her work on social media for the group, she’s been advocating in her personal name, sending, for example, letters to the editor.
“Doing this helps me stay grounded. It keeps me from spiralling into hopelessness,” she says.
Several researchers, such as Dr. Kristina, are also involved in the campaign.
Scientists are sometimes hesitant to advocate for causes like the Save Owls Head Provincial Park campaign. One reason is the fear that it might hurt their credibility, or that of their employer, in the public’s eye.
But to Dr. Kristina, there was no question as to whether she should join the fight.
“I think it is a very outdated idea,” she replies when I ask her about this. “You have to advocate for your research. Saying: ‘Oh, I’m just producing the information.’ is like shrugging off responsibility.”
Undoubtedly, bringing scientific knowledge to the table can make a big difference in the outcome of such a public issue, as other grassroots groups, such as the movement to save the Deschênes Forest in Gatineau, have demonstrated.
“The government has said that there isn’t much biodiversity at Owls Head Provincial Park,” Dr. Kristina continues. “With my research, I can point out that this is not true.”
Since its launch in December 2019, the campaign has grown to include up to 10 000 members on Facebook, 35,000+ signatories of a petition to cancel the sale, and thousands of citizens writing letters, participating in rallies, or displaying yard signs all across the province.
“This movement is something we’ve never seen before in Nova Scotia,” Lindsay states.
Looking to the Future with Optimism
The provincial Liberal government was defeated in the August 2021 election.
With the Progressive Conservative (PC) Party now in power, many are wondering what’s going to happen to the park.
As of yet, the land is still in the possession of the Nova Scotia government.
What’s more, the PC Party did promise that, if elected, “they would put an immediate pause on the sale of Owls Head Provincial Park pending public consultations and environmental reviews.”
As a decision is pending, more and more people keep joining the fight to save OHPP. And many are bringing the question of the park’s future to the attention of their new MLAs.
“So many people feel that this is inherently wrong,” Lindsay says. “And they are standing up to say: ‘No. We deserve better. And we’re out of time.’ ”
And they’re right. The truth is, in our accelerating climate crisis, we just can’t do without environments like Owls Head Provincial Park.
According to the last Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, the global warming the world is currently headed for will exceed 2 degrees Celsius.
Such an increase would make life on earth difficult. But, the IPCC scientists say, if strong action is taken, there is still a chance that we’ll be able to limit the increase to 1.5 degrees.
And given the stakes, every effort counts.
As Robinson Meyer from The Atlantic puts it: “Preventing every last ton of carbon pollution, and averting every additional tenth of a degree of warming, will […] resound for centuries and even millennia to come.”
And as easy as giving in to discouragement might be, every effort to save places like Owls Head Provincial Park helps tip the scale.
Every expression of support, every attempt at a conversation, every bit of attention given to the issue makes a difference, although not always a perceptible one.
“In a situation like this, anyone can do something to help,” Jodie concludes.
One thing is for sure: the activists fighting for Owls Head Provincial Park are a long way from giving up.
As Jodie puts it, that campaign has legs.
GOOD NEWS! Lighthouse Links Development Co. has cancelled its golf course proposal! Click here to read Save Owls Head Provincial Park‘s press release on the matter.
For more information about the Save Owls Head Provincial Park campaign:
Visit the website, or follow the campaign on:
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4 Comments
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David Quimby
Thank you for fighting this fight. We have another problem like this in Cape Breton at the Black Rock lighthouse.
Sophie Arbour
Hello Mr. Quimby,
Thank you for mentioning it. I’ve read the story on SaltWire, and I have to say, my heart goes out to Dr. Harless and everyone else faced with the prospect of Island Lights’ RV park.
As in the case of Owls Head Provincial Park, the sense of entitlement of the private company involved is hard to believe.
Thankfully, Dr. Harless and his allies seem to be as strong and resilient as the Save OHPP activists. 😊
Good luck in your efforts to save the lighthouse and its natural, peaceful surroundings!
Thomas Mihelich-Morissette
Great article! Thoroughly researched and splendidly written. Save the Park!