Pokemouche

Pokemouche, New Brunswick (Photo by Mike Dembeck)

The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) has been working on three sites in the Pokemouche area since 2003. The 77 hectares (189 acres) of protected habitat are located in the Grand Passage and Baie de Petit Pokemouche.

Pokemouche at a glance

NCC's nature reserve in the Pokemouche community is located approximately 20 kilometres southeast of Caraquet.
 
This focal area is an extensive wetland system that includes peatbog, salt marsh and dunes. This site is designated as an Important Bird Area (IBA) and is made up of three main beaches: Baie-de-Petit-Pokemouche, Grand Passage and Plover Ground North.

There is a separate IBA site for this area called Pointe aux Rats Musqués Heronry. This IBA is mainly a peat bog that extends from the mainland shore into Baie-de-Petit-Pokemouche. It has provided breeding habitat to great blue heron and what was once the largest black-crowned night heron colony in the Maritimes.

Conservation values

The waterfront property is characterized by a system of barrier beaches and dunes that protect the neighbouring salt marsh habitat from ocean surges. It is an important piping plover and waterfowl nesting site.

American black ducks breed and stage in large numbers in the marshes of Pokemouche Bay. As many as 300 individuals can be seen during the spring nesting season. Shorebirds, such as greater and lesser yellowlegs, are common during fall migration and use the salt marsh habitat found here. Salt marsh copper, one of the only five butterfly species endemic to Canada, has been observed here.