Pointe-à-Bouleau

Pointe-à-bouleau Nature Reserve, NB (Photo by NCC)

The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) has been proudly working at Pointe-à-Bouleau since 2004, with a nature reserve less than five minutes from the town of Tracadie-Sheila.

Pointe-à-Bouleau at a glance

The Pointe-à-Bouleau reserve is a 3.5-kilometre-long and 500-metre wide barrier island, extending between the Tracadie gully and the Val Comeau gully. It shelters a shallow eel-grass lagoon, salt marshes and mud flats.

The beach itself is washed over regularly during storms and dunes are low-lying.

Both ends of the island have been used for depositing dredge material from the gullies. The northern end is eroding, resulting in a very narrow stretch of beach.

Conservation values

The extensive wash-over often cover parts of the salt marsh behind the dunes, which function as an ideal habitat for the nationally endangered piping plover.

The convergence of all these crucial habitats accounts for the large number of different bird species.

In addition to piping plovers, hundreds of waterfowl and shorebirds are found at Pointe-à-Bouleau.

Plants in the area include sea rocket, along with beach wormwood. Both grow in the more exposed areas of the beach.