On June 5th and 6th, the second annual BioBlitz will take place. This is the only event of its kind to take place in Eastern Canada. The BioBlitz is a 24-hour taxonomy survey that identifies the biodiversity of a specific wilderness area. BioBlitz is part scientific endeavour, part contest, and part educational event. The event’s first goal is to identify as many species as possible in that given area. This leads to a second goal, as the scientists take part in a contest to see who can find the most species, as well as other discoveries such as rare, previously unidentified, and other unique or unusual species. The third goal is to educate the public. The BioBlitz is designed to increase public awareness of the biodiversity in their immediate neighbourhood and the services these various species provide to improve the quality of their lives. The event will take place in Blue Mountain - Birch Cove Lakes, a Candidate Wilderness area. The 1,350 hectare area includes forests and barrens and a system of interconnected lakes, streams, and wetlands. To date, there has been no detailed survey of the diversity of species contained in this area. Thus this site likely holds among the widest array of species to be found in Nova Scotia. Last year’s event, which was held on June 6th and 7th at Long Lake Provincial Park, had over 80 scientists, 250 members of the public, and exhibitors from 10 community groups in attendance. We discovered 694 species at this event, and we expect to exceed these numbers this year.
Our organization includes members of Saint Mary's University, as well as individuals from the Ecology Action Centre, the Discovery Centre, the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, the Museum of Natural History, and the Nova Scotia Departments of Environment and Natural Resources, the Sackville River’s Association, the Young Naturalists Club and the Halifax Field Naturalists.
The site for the Halifax local of The Media Co-op has been archived and will no longer be updated. Please visit the main Media Co-op website to learn more about the organization.
