American Friends partnered with Nova Scotia Nature Trust (NSNT) on the donation of a 200-acre property on the north shore of West Bay, a southwestern arm of Bras d’Or Lake in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. Donor Dan Livingstone made this generous gift of sensitive coastal habitat for the enjoyment of generations to come.

The property’s coastal habitat protects several rare and important communities; old growth hemlock forest, small lake edge ponds hosting rare plants, and ruptured barrachois ponds hosting habitat for the scarce ribbed mussel. Nearly four and half miles of shoreline on Bras d’Or Lake, which has high development threat, will remain undeveloped.

This project contributes to past and ongoing efforts of both NSNT and the Bras d’Or Preservation Nature Trust to secure intact natural areas that help to maintain the quality of this globally unique ‘inland sea’.