Critical habitat for endangered species along Nova Scotia river protected

A critical habitat for several endangered species along one of Nova Scotia's most ecologically rich rivers has been protected following a donation from a well-known business family.

The Nova Scotia Nature Trust says David and Faye Sobey have donated their 30-acre property on the St. Mary's River in Mitchell's Pool, just north of Sherbrooke in Guysborough County.

The trust says the property's brooks, swamp and island provide important habitat for a range of wildlife including ducks, forest birds and wood turtles — a species on Canada's endangered species list.

It says the donation also protects some of the last mature floodplain forest in the province, a ecosystem made up of large oaks, maples, and yellow birch that provide cooling shade essential for the river's aquatic life.

The Nature Trust says the Sobey family — known for starting the now multibillion-dollar Sobeys Inc. grocery business — have been visiting that part of the river for 80 years and they wanted to ensure the lands were kept pristine indefinitely.

The new property brings the Nature Trust's conservation network to nine protected areas encompassing over 800 acres of forests and wetlands on the St. Mary's River, which stretches roughly 250 kilometres.