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Backgrounder
About Sable Island
Sable Island has a long and fascinating human history spanning three centuries and is home to many species of plants, birds and mammals, including the famous wild horses. Sable Island is 42 kilometres long and roughly 1.3 kilometres across at its widest point. It is located 290 km southeast of Halifax near the edge of the Continental Shelf and falls within the Atlantic Coastal Plain natural region of Canada’s national park system.
The 30 km2 island is characterized by extensive beaches and sand dunes, including some of the largest dune systems in Eastern Canada. Approximately one third of the island is vegetated and there are a number of freshwater ponds. The ponds provide habitat for unique plant and animal communities and fresh water for the island’s inhabitants.
The island is a biodiversity gem, with over 190 species of plants and 350 species of birds recorded, owing to its position as a key migratory flyway. The Ipswich sparrow and the Roseate Tern both breed on the island and are protected under the Species at Risk Act. Sable Island is home to the world’s largest breeding colony of grey seals, which pup on the island between late December and early February. The island’s most famous inhabitants are the wild horses, believed to have been introduced sometime in the mid 1700s. Current estimates place their population at around 450 animals.
Throughout the 1600s and 1700s, several attempts to settle the island were made. Various domesticated animals such as horses, cattle, pigs and sheep were left on the island over the years. Rough seas, storms and fog made the island a major hazard to navigation on the east coast, and since 1583 there have been over 350 recorded shipwrecks, earning it the title of “Graveyard of the Atlantic.”
The island has been continuously inhabited since 1801, when the Nova Scotia government established the first of multiple life saving stations on the island. With the advent of more accurate navigational equipment following the Second World War, shipwrecks on Sable Island became less frequent. In more recent history, the island has been used by a number of government departments and industries for a variety of purposes. A meteorological station was built in the early 1890s and is currently managed by Environment Canada. The island is also the base for a number of long-standing research programs. Between 50 and 250 visitors travel to Sable Island each year. These include artists, photographers, filmmakers, journalists and tourists.
The special natural and cultural features of Sable Island are of national significance and merit federal legal protection. On February 12, 2013, a bill was tabled to add Sable Island to the Canada National Parks Act which is Canada’s strongest legislation for the protection of natural areas. The federal Canada - Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Resources Accord Implementation Act and the mirror legislation at the provincial level are also being amended. This action, will for the first time, result in a legislative prohibition against drilling from the surface of Sable Island and out to one nautical mile, representing a significantly enhanced level of protection.
The intrigue of Sable Island, Canada’s 43rd national park in a network of 44, has captivated the imaginations of Canadians across the country and of people from around the world, and the island holds a special connection in the hearts and minds of many. Parks Canada will collaborate with groups and individuals that are doing innovative work to bring the stories of Sable Island to Canadians and will carefully manage visitor experience opportunities while protecting this special place in perpetuity for the benefit of present and future generations.
Since 2006, the Government of Canada has taken actions that would add 147,639 square kilometres to Parks Canada's network of protected areas. As a result, this would increase the total land and water that comes under our stewardship by more than half. Just in the past year, we agreed to establish Sable Island in Nova Scotia as a new national park reserve. We are also making investments in order to create Canada’s first national urban park in the Rouge Valley.
The protection in 2010 of 3,500 square kilometres of Pacific marine waters through the creation of Gwaii Haanas National Marine Conservation Area Reserve and Haida Heritage Site is not only a remarkable conservation action but also a demonstration of international leadership by Canada. For the first time anywhere in the world, an area extending from the mountain summit to the deep ocean floor beyond the continental shelf has been protected. Parks Canada is also working to establish a marine conservation area in the Southern Strait of Georgia, British Columbia.
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The 30 km2 island is characterized by extensive beaches and sand dunes, including some of the largest dune systems in Eastern Canada. Approximately one third of the island is vegetated and there are a number of freshwater ponds. The ponds provide habitat for unique plant and animal communities and fresh water for the island’s inhabitants.
The island is a biodiversity gem, with over 190 species of plants and 350 species of birds recorded, owing to its position as a key migratory flyway. The Ipswich sparrow and the Roseate Tern both breed on the island and are protected under the Species at Risk Act. Sable Island is home to the world’s largest breeding colony of grey seals, which pup on the island between late December and early February. The island’s most famous inhabitants are the wild horses, believed to have been introduced sometime in the mid 1700s. Current estimates place their population at around 450 animals.
Throughout the 1600s and 1700s, several attempts to settle the island were made. Various domesticated animals such as horses, cattle, pigs and sheep were left on the island over the years. Rough seas, storms and fog made the island a major hazard to navigation on the east coast, and since 1583 there have been over 350 recorded shipwrecks, earning it the title of “Graveyard of the Atlantic.”
The island has been continuously inhabited since 1801, when the Nova Scotia government established the first of multiple life saving stations on the island. With the advent of more accurate navigational equipment following the Second World War, shipwrecks on Sable Island became less frequent. In more recent history, the island has been used by a number of government departments and industries for a variety of purposes. A meteorological station was built in the early 1890s and is currently managed by Environment Canada. The island is also the base for a number of long-standing research programs. Between 50 and 250 visitors travel to Sable Island each year. These include artists, photographers, filmmakers, journalists and tourists.
The special natural and cultural features of Sable Island are of national significance and merit federal legal protection. On February 12, 2013, a bill was tabled to add Sable Island to the Canada National Parks Act which is Canada’s strongest legislation for the protection of natural areas. The federal Canada - Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Resources Accord Implementation Act and the mirror legislation at the provincial level are also being amended. This action, will for the first time, result in a legislative prohibition against drilling from the surface of Sable Island and out to one nautical mile, representing a significantly enhanced level of protection.
The intrigue of Sable Island, Canada’s 43rd national park in a network of 44, has captivated the imaginations of Canadians across the country and of people from around the world, and the island holds a special connection in the hearts and minds of many. Parks Canada will collaborate with groups and individuals that are doing innovative work to bring the stories of Sable Island to Canadians and will carefully manage visitor experience opportunities while protecting this special place in perpetuity for the benefit of present and future generations.
Since 2006, the Government of Canada has taken actions that would add 147,639 square kilometres to Parks Canada's network of protected areas. As a result, this would increase the total land and water that comes under our stewardship by more than half. Just in the past year, we agreed to establish Sable Island in Nova Scotia as a new national park reserve. We are also making investments in order to create Canada’s first national urban park in the Rouge Valley.
The protection in 2010 of 3,500 square kilometres of Pacific marine waters through the creation of Gwaii Haanas National Marine Conservation Area Reserve and Haida Heritage Site is not only a remarkable conservation action but also a demonstration of international leadership by Canada. For the first time anywhere in the world, an area extending from the mountain summit to the deep ocean floor beyond the continental shelf has been protected. Parks Canada is also working to establish a marine conservation area in the Southern Strait of Georgia, British Columbia.
News Release associated with this Backgrounder.
