The province has decided to make all old-growth forest on Crown land protected.
The update to the old-growth forest policy will protect forests on Crown land where at least 20 percent of the trees are 100-140 years old.
The province says the move is part of their new approach to ecological forestry.
“Protecting our old-growth forests is part of our ongoing work to implement ecological forestry on Crown land in Nova Scotia. We believe this revised policy makes Nova Scotia a leader in protecting old-growth forests and demonstrates our commitment to prioritize biodiversity on Crown land.” – Minister of Natural Resources and Renewables Tory Rushton.
They’ve also identified forests approaching old-growth status and have protected them as “restoration opportunity areas”.
Nearly 15 per cent of provincial Crown land is now protected as old-growth forest.
The policy is effective today and does not apply to private land.
