Residents say Carters Beach must be protected from more than just people

A provincial plan to declare a spectacular Nova Scotia beach a nature preserve has some questioning the idea.

Carters Beach looks tropical, with clear blue water and white sands. It is really three beaches tucked away on the south shore, just past Liverpool.

For many years it was hidden gem but an increasing number of people are using the beach, part of the reason for the pending nature reserve designation by the Nova Scotia Department of Environment.

"It's an extremely unique and rare area that boasts an absolutely incredible ecosystem and it's been identified as an extraordinary sensitive area for decades," said Helen Smith, consultation and outreach coordinator for protected areas and ecosystems at the environment department.

Smith said the province is not trying to deter people from using the beach but to limit their stays.

"We would like people if they're going to the beach to not plan on staying all day so they don't need to use the lavatory and pollute the dunes and leave rubbish behind," she said. "If they're planning a full day, Summerville Beach is more suited to that activity."

That's because unlike Carters, Summerville Beach is a provincial park with washrooms, garbage cans, picnic tables and lots of room for parking.

Smith says there are no plans to put large-scale infrastructure at Carters.

Beverley Burlock is a longtime member of Friends of Port Mouton Bay, a group opposed to an aquaculture farm just offshore from Carters. As a child, her family owned property nearby and she recalls her mother telling stories about sliding down the huge sand dunes on cardboard so she appreciates the need to preserve the area and what remains of the dunes.

She thinks it's important to protect the beach and dunes from more than people.

"Why the government would go ahead and do that when they have just renewed the lease for the fish farm for another five years, I have no idea why they do would two such contradictory things," she said.

Gloria Gilbert lives in the area and is also a member of Friends of Port Mouton Bay.

She likes the idea of the nature reserve designation.

"Generally I think it's a good idea because it underlines the values we all hold that precious places should be protected and kept for all time," she said.

However, she too calls the designation a "huge contradiction."

"It's impossible to do what the nature reserve intends to do when organic loading from a facility like the fish farm is permitted to continue," she said.

Gilbert says that fish farm material is getting into the beach ecosystem and ultimately damaging it.

Smith says the nature reserve designation doesn't apply to the bay, just to the beach from the high water back.