Shepody National Wildlife Area
Photo: Colin MacKinnon © Environment Canada.
Shepody National Wildlife Area - aerial view.
Shepody National Wildlife Area (NWA) was established in 1980 and is comprised of the Germantown Marsh, Mary's Point and New Horton sections that are situated on and adjacent to Chignecto and Shepody Bays. Shepody National Wildlife Area was also designated as a Ramsar site, its wetlands having been recognized as having international significance because it supports large numbers of mud shrimp, the principle food source for millions of fall migrating shorebirds to Central and South America; primarily the Semipalmated Sandpiper.
Both the Germantown Marsh and New Horton sections were largely former lakes, bogs and salt marsh that many years ago had been drained and converted to farmland with the installation of dikes and aboiteau that held back tidal waters. Since being incorporated into the NWA these marshes have been restored, with the assistance of Ducks Unlimited Canada, with earth dikes and shallowly flooded with fresh water to replace wetland habitat that was formerly lost. The Mary's Point section that is situated on the coast where Shepody and Chignecto Bay converge is comprised of a large salt marsh, extensive inter-tidal mud flats and a forested peninsula that extends out into Shepody Bay. This peninsula is made up of a sand/gravel beach, sand dunes, rocky cliffs and inter-tidal ledges. Mary’s Point has a rich human history and in the mid to late 19th century supported a small community centred around the quarrying of sandstone. The adjacent rich mudflats support marine algae and abundant invertebrates that make this section so important to foraging and roosting shorebirds during their southern migration.
The impounded wetlands of Shepody NWA provide important production, staging and migration habitat for waterfowl including Black Duck, Green-winged Teal, Blue-winged Teal and Ring-necked Duck that regularly breed within the NWA. The freshwater wetlands further provide some of the best nesting habitat in the Atlantic Provinces for a variety of marsh birds such as the Pied-billed Grebe, American Bittern, and Sora. The salt marshes support staging and migration habitat for waterfowl with the inter-tidal mud flats and gravel beaches providing migration habitat for shorebirds including the Black-bellied and Semipalmated Plovers among others. The dominant species is the Semipalmated Sandpiper which roosts on the beach at Mary’s Point in the thousands during peak migration. Mary’s Point, along with adjacent Ha Ha Bay,is also a component of the Western Hemispheric Shorebird Reserve Network (WHSRN). Environment Canada administers a self interpreting visitor centre at Marys Point; open weekdays throughout July and August.
The NWA further provides habitat for many mammal species found including the Meadow Vole, Mink, River Otter, Snowshoe Hare, Eastern Coyote, Bobcat, White-tailed Deer and Moose.
More information on Shepody NWA is provided in the summary table below.
National Wildlife Areas (NWAs) are protected and managed according to the Wildlife Area Regulations under the Canada Wildlife Act. The primary purpose of NWAs is the protection and conservation of wildlife and their habitat. For this purpose, and according to the legislation, Environment Canada can prohibit all activities in a NWA that could interfere with the conservation of wildlife. Consequently, most NWAs are not accessible to the public and all activities are prohibited. Nonetheless, Environment Canada has the ability to authorize some activities, whether through public notice or the issuance of permits, as long as these are consistent with the management plan goals for the NWA. For more information, consult the NWAs Management and Activities section.
Access to Shepody NWA is not restricted and activities may be permitted in accordance with the conservation objectives of the NWA management plan. Public notices listing the authorized activities within the wildlife area are posted at access points and include: wildlife observation, hiking and photography. Hunting, trapping and fishing are permitted in the New Horton and Germantown units in accordance with relevant federal and provincial regulations as well as specified conditions such as standards recommended by the federal/provincial committee on humane trapping. Environment Canada administers a self-interpreting visitors’ centre at Mary’s Point, which is open weekdays throughout July and August during the peak of shorebird migration.
More information on access and permitting for Shepody NWA, can be obtained by contacting the Environment Canada regional office.
Map of the Area
Map showing the Shepody National Wildlife Area boundaries.
Long description for the Map
Map showing the Shepody National Wildlife Area boundaries.
Legend / Légende:
National Wildlife Areas
Réserves nationales de faune
This map is for illustrative purposes only and should not be used to define legal boundaries. Shepody National Wildlife Area can also be viewed using Google Maps. Please note that the Google map is a complementary source of information and does not represent the official map or site name.
|Protected Area designation||National Wildlife Area|
|Latitude/longitude||45°44' N / 64°45' W|
|Size in hectares (ha)||979 ha|
|Reason for creation of protected area||Conservation of shorebird roosting habitat and waterfowl and waterbird wetland habitat.|
|Date created (Gazetted)||1980 – Legal description|
|International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Management Category||IV – Habitat / Species Management Area|
|Listed Species under the Species at Risk Act (SARA)||Least Bittern|
|Main habitat type||Wetland (83.4%), Forest (13.8%), Abandoned Farmland (2.8%)|
|Invasive species||Purple Loosestrife, Reed Canarygrass.|
|Main threats and challenges||Coastal erosion at Mary’s Point and adjacent land use changes.|
|Management Agency||Environment Canada (Canadian Wildlife Service)|
|Public access and usage||Hunting, trapping, fishing, wildlife observation, hiking and photography are permitted as posted.|
Note: If there is a discrepancy between the information presented on this web page and any notice posted at the NWA site, the notice prevails as it is the legal instrument authorizing the activity.
Environment Canada – Atlantic Region
Canadian Wildlife Service
Protected Areas and Stewardship
17 Waterfowl Lane
Toll Free: 1-800-668-6767 (in Canada only)
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