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The future of Nova Scotia's dykelands : understanding the landowners’ perspective
Champagne, Brandon
Date: 2021
Type: Text
Abstract:
In the 1600s, French Acadian settlers built dykes to drain tidal wetlands
for agriculture. Much of these dyked lands or dykelands exist today but are
vulnerable to sea level rise and flooding. Managed dyke realignment is one
approach that supports a new tidal marsh buffer. Little is known about how
landowners view managed realignment as an adaptation strategy in Nova Scotia.
Communicating with groups of landowners known as marsh bodies about
managed realignment has shown promise in implementing it on dykelands.
Property owners (n=12) within a marsh body were randomly selected and
interviewed over the phone. Positive views of managed realignment were
supported by knowledge of its implementation and an inevitable view of climate
impacts. Support for managed realignment conflicted with aesthetic,
environmental, and agricultural values. Future work should incorporate the views
of stakeholders and Mi’kmaq communities to capture the full range of trade-offs
inherent with managed realignment on dykelands.