Sand Pond National Wildlife Area Management Plan

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Acknowledgements:
This management plan was written by Colin MacKinnon of the Canadian Wildlife Service of Environment Canada. Thanks to Canadian Wildlife Service employees who were involved in the development or review of the document: Andrew Kennedy, Alan Hanson, Kevin Davidson, Doug Bliss, Mark Richardson, David Boivin and Olaf Jensen.

Copies of this plan are available at the following addresses:

Environment Canada
Inquiry Centre
10 Wellington Street, 23rd Floor
Gatineau QC K1A 0H3
Telephone: 819-997-2800
Toll Free: 1-800-668-6767 (in Canada only)
Fax: 819-994-1412
TTY: 819-994-0736
Email: enviroinfo@ec.gc.ca Environment Canada - Canadian Wildlife Service
Atlantic Region
17 Waterfowl Lane
Sackville NB E4L 1G6

Environment Canada Protected Areas

How to cite this document:

Environment Canada. Sand Pond National Wildlife Area Management Plan . Environment Canada, Canadian Wildlife Service Atlantic Region, 39 pages.

About Environment Canada Protected Areas and management plans

What are Environment Canada Protected Areas?

Environment Canada establishes marine and terrestrial National Wildlife Areas for the purposes of conservation, research and interpretation. National Wildlife Areas are established to protect migratory birds, species at risk, and other wildlife and their habitats. National Wildlife Areas are established under the authority of the Canada Wildlife Act and are, first and foremost, places for wildlife. Migratory Bird Sanctuaries are established under the authority of the Migratory Birds Convention Act, 1994 and provide a refuge for migratory birds in the marine and terrestrial environment.

What is the size of the Environment Canada Protected Areas network?

The current Protected Areas Network consists of 54 National Wildlife Areas and 92 Migratory Bird Sanctuaries comprising over 12 million hectares across Canada.

What is a management plan?

A management plan provides the framework in which management decisions are made. They are intended to be used by Environment Canada staff to guide decision making, notably with respect to permitting. Management is undertaken in order to maintain the ecological integrity of the protected area and to maintain the attributes for which the protected area was established. Environment Canada prepares a management plan for each protected area in consultation with First Nations and other stakeholders.

A management plan specifies activities that are allowed and identifies other activities that may be undertaken under the authority of a permit. It may also describe the necessary improvements needed in the habitat and specify where and when these improvements should be made. A management plan identifies Aboriginal rights and allowable practices specified under land claims agreements. Further, measures carried out for the conservation of wildlife must not be inconsistent with any law respecting wildlife in the province in which the protected area is situated.

What is Protected Area management?

Management includes monitoring wildlife, maintaining and improving wildlife habitat, periodic inspections, enforcement of regulations, as well as the maintenance of facilities and infrastructure. Research is also an important activity in protected areas; hence, Environment Canada staff carries out or coordinates research at some sites.

The series

All of the National Wildlife Areas are to have a management plan. All of these management plans will be initially reviewed 5 years after the approval of the first plan, and every 10 years thereafter.

To learn more

To learn more about Environment Canada's protected areas, please visit our website or contact the Canadian Wildlife Service in Ottawa.

Sand Pond National Wildlife Area

Established in 1978, Sand Pond National Wildlife Area (NWA) was the first NWA to be designated in Canada. Sand Pond NWA is located 22 km east of the town of Yarmouth in southwestern Nova Scotia, adjacent to the Tusket River basin. This area of Nova Scotia supports rare plants collectively known as Atlantic Coastal Plain Flora, a group of 90 species of uncommon or rare wetland plants found nowhere else in Canada. Eleven of these plant species are designated as species at risk and are particularly vulnerable to human disturbance. Sand Pond NWA supports a large number of species of Atlantic Coastal Plain Flora.

This area was first proposed for acquisition in 1966 by the Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) because of the importance of the area’s wetlands to staging and migrant waterfowl. Sand Pond NWA is situated just inland from a diverse matrix of rich coastal estuaries and islands that support a variety of staging and wintering waterfowl. Freshwater lakes such as Sand Pond (Figure 1) that are close to the coast are particularly important habitat for American Black Ducks (Anas rubripes).

The acquisition of land around Sand Pond was mostly complete by 1968. Administration and control of 96 hectares was transferred by the province of Nova Scotia to CWS while the remaining 427 acres was purchased from 19 private landowners. Sand Pond NWA is administered by Environment Canada.

For greater certainty, nothing in this management plan shall be construed so as to abrogate or derogate from the protection provided for existing Aboriginal or treaty rights of the Aboriginal peoples of Canada by the recognition and affirmation of those rights in section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982.