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ACTION ALERT ACTION NEEDED ON NATURE RESERVE DESIGNATIONS Background: Under Nova Scotia's 19 year old Special Places Protection Act the Province can designate ecologically significant lands as nature reserves. Seven sites have been designated since the act was passed, including some old forests and rare plant refuges. Several dozen other candidates have been identified since the early 1970s. The Province has not designated any new sites since the early 1990s. Nature reserves are typically smaller than Wilderness Areas and have a higher level of protection. Recent history: In April 1997, DNR Minister Eleanor Norrie promised that the Province would designate 5 new nature reserves by the end of 1997 (Nova Scotia's Protected Areas Action Plan, 1997), but it didn't happen. In November 1998, in response to our concerns about the pace of designations, Ecology Action Centre received a letter from then Environment Minister Don Downe stating "...it is anticipated that several designations will be in place by the end of the current fiscal year [March 31/99]." This deadline probably won't get met but e-mails, faxes, and/or letters to the new Environment Minister Michel Samson will keep some pressure on DOE to get these designations done sooner than later (or never). The leading 5 candidates for protection are Duncan's Cove (rare plants) Hfx. Co. , Roman Valley (old hardwood forest) Guysborough Co., Quinns Meadow (rare plants) - Shelburne Co., Spinneys Heath (rare plants) Yarmouth Co., and Quinan Lake (old forest) Yarmouth Co. What you can do: Tell Michel Samson that you want DOE to designate 5 nature reserves by the end of March. Remind him that the Province committed to having 5 new designations in place by the end of 1997. Also tell him the pace of nature reserve designations is too slow and that DOE needs to set specific targets for additional designations beyond the current 5. (also promised by Norrie in the 1997 Action Plan). Don't forget to ask for a response to your concerns. "CC"ing letters to the Premier would also be helpful. Addresses below. Thanks, Kermit deGooyer Ecology Action Centre 429-2202 ********************************************* Hon. Michel Samson Minister of the Environment PO Box 2107 Halifax, NS B3J 3B7 e-mail: samsonmp@gov.ns.ca fax: (902) 424-0644 Premier Russell MacLellan 1700 Granville St. Halifax, NS B3J 2T3 e-mail: premier@gov.ns.ca fax: (902) 424-7648 -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- You received this because you are subscribed to "sust-mar", the Sustainable Maritimes mailing list. To unsubscribe, send email to <majordomo@chebucto.ns.ca> with "unsubscribe sust-mar" (without quotes) as the body of your message. To post a message to sust-mar subscribers, send it to <sust-mar@chebucto.ns.ca> Posts that are off-topic or excessive length (10K) will be rejected. For help contact <sust-mar-owner@chebucto.ns.ca>
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