Peter MacKay and Peter Kent at Sable Island announcement in Halifax.Sable Island, dubbed the Graveyard of the Atlantic because it's windswept, fogbound shores are home to 350 shipwrecks, has been designated a national park reserve by the federal government.
But as parks go, it's unlikely to turn into a big tourism magnet.
The long, slender dot of land lies almost 300 kilometres off the coast of Nova Scotia and gets between 50 and 250 visitors a year, according to Parks Canada.
It may be best known for the herd of wild horses that call it home. But it's also a rich land and marine habitat that environmentalists have wanted protected for years.
Environment Minister Peter Kent, Defence Minister Peter MacKay, the senior Nova Scotia MP, and Premier Darrell Dexter signed an agreement Tuesday to do just that.
"Fifty years of conservation efforts culminate today with the Harper Government's signing of this agreement to designate Sable Island as a national park reserve," MacKay said in a news release
"For half a century Nova Scotians, as well as Canadians across the country, have voiced their support for protecting this iconic landscape and its wild horses, and no higher level of protection can be bestowed on this famed island than to make it a national park reserve."
The agreement includes a ban on oil and gas drilling on the island and surrounding ocean out to one nautical mile, which will involve amending existing significant discovery licences, the government said.
"We support this initiative and we are working collaboratively with all parties who are striving to set up a practical system to protect this unique piece of the Nova Scotia environment while recognizing the importance of petroleum activities," said Mike Honderich, Sable operations superintendent for ExxonMobil Canada, which represents licence-holders.
About 42 kilometres long and 1.5 kilometres at its widest, Sable Island has the largest sand-dune system in Eastern Canada, Parks Canada says.
Parks Canada calls Sable Island "a biodiversity gem," with more than 190 species of plants and, because it's on a major migratory flyway, 350 species of birds. It is already home to a bird sanctuary, the world's largest breeding colony of grey seals and 18 species of sharks who feast on them, the National Post reported.
The island has two mostly permanent residents who staff its two 300-year-old lighthouses, and scientists come for regular stays in government quarters.
"When you're there, it feels like you're on the moon," said researcher Sheila Hirtle, who wrote a book on the history of Sable Island. "There's just an incredible loneliness on the island. You can see boats going by as they travel to the oil rigs, you can hear planes overhead, but you have no connection to any of it."
Attempts were made to settle the island in the 17th and 18th centuries, Parks Canada's thumbnail history says. The 400 or so horses that live there today are the descendants of those abandoned by the failed pioneers.
The first recorded shipwreck in the island's waters was in 1583. The Nova Scotia government first set up a life-saving station on the island in 1801 but modern navigational aids have reduced the number of wrecks.
(CP Photo)
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