Economy Point

Great black-backed gulls (Photo by Laurie Dunbar)

Diverse landscape with undeveloped beauty

A spectacular natural landscape of wild and pristine beauty, this area in the Minas Basin of Nova Scotia is home to some of the area's most fragile residents and is a prime feeding and staging area for migrating shorebirds.

Economy Point is a peninsula with a constantly changing face. Boasting tides that can rise and fall up to 40 feet, the region is also home to mudflats, rocky outcroppings, salt marshes and old-growth forests, making it a diverse and unique ecosystem.

Economy Point at a glance

• The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) currently owns two properties totalling 65 hectares (160 acres) at Economy Point.
• It is an extraordinary fragment of wilderness that offers ecological diversity, with habitats ranging from mudflats and beaches to forests and bogs.
• Economy Point stretches out into the ocean and its craggy cliffs stand 25 to 200 feet tall.
• If features a variety of birds, such as sandpipers and peregrine falcons, and other animals such as white-tailed deer.
• The property protects two kilometres of untouched shoreline, visible from the peaks of the sandstone cliffs.
• Its tidal flats that change every six hours with the tide, which can change water levels by 40 feet.

Conservation values

The area provides habitat for:

• various bird species, including purple sandpipers, semipalmated plovers, least sandpipers, semipalmated sandpipers;
• raptors such as bald eagles and the provincially threatened peregrine falcon, which can be seen soaring overhead, while deer graze in the forest;
• remarkably untouched mudflats, pristine beaches and stunning rocky outcroppings.

Threats

Economy Point is a breath-taking wilderness area that faces some uncertainty. Timber harvesting, along with residential and recreational development, are real pressures. Coastal real estate on the Bay of Fundy is in great demand and the varied ecosystems that give Economy Point high conservation value make it appealing for development as well.

Our vision for Economy Point and Minas Basin

While NCC has acquired seven properties in this stunning area, there is more work to be done. To further preserve Economy Point's varied habitats and to protect against the threats that would destroy those things that make it unique, NCC seeks to strike a balance that protects this special natural habitat while still allowing nature-lovers to enjoy the fresh air, the fantastic views and the remarkable variety of the area. To achieve that balance, we must ensure the site is well-maintained and stewarded.