HALIFAX - The Nova Scotia Nature Trust has launched a multimillion-dollar campaign to protect more than a hundred islands along a 250 kilometer stretch of the Eastern Shore.
The trust says the roughly 2,800 hectares of land is nestled between Clam Harbour Beach and Mushaboom harbour and is the largest coastal island wilderness in the province. The nature trust says the roughly 100 islands are home to diverse habitats, including rare freshwater lakes, colonies of seabirds and forests undisturbed by humans for thousands of years.
Bonnie Sutherland, executive director of the trust, says it has already raised $4 million of its $7 million campaign goal. Sutherland says they're asking the public for help in raising the remaining funds, and every donated dollar is being matched by an anonymous donor.
“For the cost of a couple of islands in the rest of the world, we can protect a hundred wild islands,” said Sutherland.
The organization says it would protect 1,200 hectares of private land through agreements with island owners, land donations and land purchases.
It says it would also work to ensure the designation of 1,600 hectares of Crown islands under the province's Parks and Protected Areas plan.
