Coastal Protection
Nova Scotia is the second smallest province in Canada with a coastline of 13,300 kilometers. 95% of Nova Scotia’s diverse coastline is privately owned. Why does that matter? Read on…
Eagle Head Beach (photo Michael Goodyear)
Seawall at Peter Kelly’s beach-front house at Eagle Head Beach (photo Denise Forand)
Kelly’s seawall after winter storm (photo Jayleen Corkum)
Little Crescent Beach
Massive seawall along H. Mousavi’s property, Little Crescent Beach (photo P. Barss)
Before and after photos H. Mousavi’s seawall at Little Crescent Beach (photos Peter Barss)
Mousavi’s seawall after winter storm (photo Peter Barss)
Also, download the Signature collection guidelines
The Coast of Nova Scotia
Much of the coastline consists of barrier sand dunes that protect the sensitive wetlands and marshes behind them. These marshes and wetlands in turn, protect the areas further inland from sea surges and storms. Development close to or on these sand dunes disrupt their natural protective role and can, in fact, increase the destructive energy of ocean waves, causing more intense erosion of the coast. Armouring of properties against the ocean has often the opposite effect, causing damage to the rock wall, destroying the sensitive ecosystems that had existed before the wall was built, or to neighbouring properties as the wave energy is directed further along the coast.
The Coastal Protection Act was unanimously passed in 2019 with the goal to:
“…protect the Province’s coast for future generations by preventing development and activity in locations adjacent to the coast that
(a) damage the environment by interfering with the natural dynamic and shifting nature of the coast; or
(b) put residences and buildings at risk of damage or destruction from sea-level rise, coastal flooding, storm surges and coastal erosion.”
Yet, in February 2024, after 5 years of consultation, this Act was not legislated. Instead Tim Halman, Minister of Environment and Climate Change in the Tim Houston PC Government, ignored the overwhelming public support for the Act and devised a plan that would transfer responsibility of Nova Scotia’s coastline to property owners, developers and municipalities.
Coastal Protection Act in the news
NS Government Scraps Coastal Protection Act
Tim Halman says he assumes 39,000 people who did not take survey oppose the act
NS Governement refuses to release survey results
NS Government finds hundreds of lost survey submissions in junk mail
CBC News M. Gorman Sept 29, 2022: CPA Regulations almost complete
We need to move beyond this stage!
State of Nova Scotia’s coast report 2009
A Facebook page was born in 2023 to lobby for protection of property, not for coastal ecosystems. Intersting to note the tone of the text and the information is translated.
