Province Refuses to Respond to Biologists, Naturalists, Arrests Protesters Instead

Well folks,

While you have been busy sharing our moose petition with your friends and family, our staff and board were calling and writing to the Minister of Lands and Forestry asking that harvest activities in the Fourth Lake to Napier River area be stopped and the Species at Risk Act implemented in full to protect the Mainland Moose in Nova Scotia. We gave the province until yesterday, Friday December 18th, to respond with the appropriate (or any) actions.

We have received no response. No email, no letter, no phone call… no on-the-ground action.

Meanwhile, protesters from Extinction Rebellion Nova Scotia who have been guarding core moose habitat in South West Nova Scotia were arrested this week after an injunction was granted requiring them to leave the crown lands in question.

We are more than disappointed. After dozens of reports confirming the presence of moose in crown parcels slated for clearcutting, even after losing a lawsuit earlier this year for failing to protect the moose and other listed species, for the province to send no response at all is disheartening to say the least. The Nova Scotia government has made it clear that it doesn’t care about the mainland moose, that it has no timeline for implementing the Lahey Report, and that it doesn’t value the opinions of 30,000+ concerned citizens who signed our petition.

The fight is not over, though.

We will not be promoting this petition any further, though we sincerely thank you for your efforts at drawing attention to the plight of Species at Risk in our province. In the new year, our board will reveal Nature Nova Scotia’s next steps in our campaign for the conservation of the Mainland Moose, and other Species at Risk in Nova Scotia, and we will need your support.

As biologists and naturalists, many of us never expected to have to play the role of environmental activist. It has become obvious, however, that fun fact fridays, speaker panels, and scientific papers are no longer enough. We must act to save the moose.

In 2021, we will act. Please donate to our strategic engagement campaign and help us profile and advocate for the Mainland Moose, and join our e-mail list, to be notified when we announce our next steps in January.