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Overview:
NSEN Updates
Member Updates
Calls to Action
Nova Scotia Environmental News
Job Opportunities
Volunteer Opportunities
Other Information
There's lots to report this month, and lots of opportunities in April, including in 'Other Information'. Make sure you keep reading until the end!
NSEN Updates
Webinar: Building Community Through Climate Action
Tuesday, April 7, 7:00-8:00 pm Kate Brooks, from the Ecology Action Centre, will share about the HalifACT/EAC Climate Commitment Badge Program and its focus on building resilience and connection in the Halifax Regional Municipality.
Friday, May 1, Doors 6:00 pm, Event 6:30-9:00 pm, Bar 'til 10 pm
Join us at The Abstract Café in Halifax for a fun evening of environment-themed bingo. Plus! Break up the bingo with a riveting game of Nova Scotia Environmental Trivia!
➡️ $15 to play, cash or card (or buy extra cards and increase your chance to win!)
➡️ $1000 worth of epic prizes, from gift cards to local businesses to outdoor adventure experiences!
➡️ Bar open 'til 10! Stick around and mingle with friends!
NSEN is growing, and we want you to be part of it! With new members, exciting events, and stronger collaboration across the province, there's never been a better time to be connected.
As a member, you can: ✅ Join provincial caucuses on key topics like water, biodiversity, and environmental education ✅ Participate in our annual meeting with the Minister of Environment and Climate Change ✅ Share your events, projects, job postings, and calls to action through our newsletter and social media ✅ Share your work in free webinars hosted by NSEN ✅ Recruit volunteers through our Volunteer Hub ✅ Connect with like-minded individuals and organizations at NSEN events
If you're a past member and haven't renewed for 2026, we’d love to welcome you back!
If you’re unsure about your membership status or would like to learn more about joining, please get in touch.
Apr. 8: Dehydrating Meals for the Trail webinar Apr. 15: Dehydrating Meals for the Trail in person clinic, Halifax Apr. 16: NS Walks Walk Leader Training, online
Call for Spring-Summer Events Hike Nova Scotia invites groups across NS to partner with it on delivering guided hike or walk events in the spring and summer of 2026. Hike NS will help promote events and provide a how-to guide and trail prizes to give away. If your municipality, First Nation, or organization can organize a hike or walk event (or already plans to host one), please register your event by April 12 for events between May 8 and August 2. Learn more here.
Friday April 17, 7:00-9:30 pm. SOOF Owl Prowl with Donna Crossland
Who Cooks For You?? The Barred Owl, that’s who! Join Donna Crossland for a nighttime adventure with Save our Old Forests (SOOF) at the Goldsmith Lake Wilderness Area. The Owl Prowl is a great way to learn about the owls that call Nova Scotia home. You’ll learn their calls, hear some great owl stories and possibly have a close encounter with a Barred owl (or two)! Registration is required. Maximum participants 30. A waiting list will be started once registration is full. Register: saveouroldforests.ca/event/ owl-prowl-2026
Join Save Our Old Forests (SOOF) and the Centrelea Community Hall for our 3rd annual celebration of Earth Day! Kick-start the day with a morning Nature Hike with Donna Crossland from 9:30 - 11:45, then come back to the Community Hall for a free SOOF SOUP lunch starting at noon and an afternoon of fun family nature activities including Crafts, Firefly Art Therapy, Tree Planting, Earth Walk, Live Music, CARP, MTRI, Nature Nova Scotia, Citizen Science and more... More info: https://saveouroldforests.ca/event/20260419-soupsunday/
Thursday, April 23, 7:00 pm. Save Our Old Forests - Annual General Meeting
The 2026 Annual General Meeting (AGM) for the Save Our Old Forests (SOOF) Association has been scheduled for Thursday, April 23, 2026, at 7:00 pm.
The AGM is an opportunity for Members of the nonprofit association to hear from the SOOF Board about the activities over the last year, plans for 2026 and the annual financial report. Only active Voting Members will be able to vote on matters put forward at the AGM. Voting Members will receive an invitation by email in early April, with the option to join in person or online. Only those who indicate online will receive the link to the Microsoft Teams meeting. Members are welcome to stay for an informal conversation with Board members following the AGM.
Saturday, April 25, 2:00-5:00 pm SOOFSTOCK Presents... SOOF Tune's At Lunns!
Join Save Our Old Forests (SOOF) for an afternoon of SOOF Tunes at Lunn’s! We’ll be kicking things off at 2 pm, featuring performances from Gregory McOrmond, Alex & Autumn, and Mark Bezanson. Bring a friend (or two) and stop by Lunn’s Mill Beer Company (515 Carleton Road, Lawrencetown) on April 25th for a bite to eat, a beer and some great music. It’s a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon in support of local musicians, local business and a great cause! Pay What You Can ($20 Suggested) - proceeds from the door go to SOOF. More info: https://saveouroldforests.ca/soofstock/
Bilingual webinar: From Maps to Action: Flood Hazard Preparedness in Lennox Island First Nation
Join us on April 8th at 12:00 PM Atlantic!
We’re delighted to mark the halfway point of our Shared Resilience series with a presentation from Tim Bernard, Natural Resources Manager at Lennox Island First Nation on Abegweit / PEI.
Lennox Island is particularly vulnerable to flooding and erosion, putting homes and well-being at risk. The in-home flood assessment project focuses on minimizing flood damages to homes while engaging with individuals from all backgrounds.
You’ll learn about:
How the project is prioritising community input from all ages and sectors to identify gaps in knowledge The importance of flood mapping in supporting long-term community planning
Live interpretation to French will be available throughout the call. Please note that the webinar will be recorded.
May 27, 2026 - May 28, 2026 | Halifax Convention Centre
Join CLIMAtlantic for two days of connection and sharing to grow climate resilience in the Atlantic region.
This conference will bring together climate change adaptation practitioners, knowledge holders, community leaders, policymakers, engineers, academics, youth, artists, and more.
The Scotian Shores Cleanup Project has surpassed 30,000lb of debris removed from our shores so far in 2026. The "Year of the Band" is in full swing with our Ocean Warriors reporting in over 175,000 lobster bands since January 1st.
Our Earth Day event in Yarmouth is coming up on the weekend of April 24th, 25th and 26th. Expect a full weekend of events, information and collection of garbage for the residents in the region and those visiting.
If you wish to become involved in our efforts, please send an email to scotianshores@gmail.com and ask to be added to our email list. We send out frequent information on our upcoming cleanups across the province.
Crossroads Vegetable Garden Spring Soil Prep Saturday, April 11th, 10:00-11:30 PM | St Margarets Bay Crossroads
Join us in preparing the soil for our 15th Season! We will be adding compost, amendments and prepping the soil for spring planting. We will be there rain or shine. We will also install the Seed Library stocked with free seeds! Each year, Transition Bay volunteers grow about 500 pounds of vegetables from these four raised beds for the St Margarets Bay Food Bank. They greatly appreciate this fresh produce. The Crossroads Garden is also intended to inspire everyone about the benefits of starting or expanding a home vegetable garden. This is becoming very important in this era of rapidly increasing food costs.
Coastal Classroom & Rooted Learning: Climate Adaptation Begins at Home Sunday, April 26th, 2:30 PM – 4:30 PM | Tantallon Public Library
For those who’ve watched the shoreline shift, the marsh edge creep, or the basement flood a little sooner each spring—this talk is for you. Join us for an afternoon with Rosmarie Lohnes of Helping Nature Heal, as she brings her decades of hands-on ecological work home, literally to the landowner’s doorstep.
Through her programs Coastal Classroom and Rooted Learning, Rosmarie works directly with individuals and communities to understand how water moves through a landscape, how soils behave under stress, and how native plant communities can be recruited to do some of the heavy lifting when it comes to climate resilience. Her approach connects the large-scale restoration thinking behind municipal programs like ShoreUp with the kind of practical, boots-in-the-mud knowledge that individual landowners can actually use.
The session will explore nature-based strategies for stabilizing landscapes and improving long-term resilience—from soil health and mycelial networks to hydrological awareness and native plant systems. Rosmarie’s work offers both practical techniques and a broader shift in how we understand our land: not just as something to be maintained, but as part of a larger living system we can actively support.
Rosmarie Lohnes is the founder of Helping Nature Heal, an ecological restoration and consulting firm based in Nova Scotia with over 20 years of experience working with coastal and inland landscapes across Atlantic Canada. A designated Environmental Professional (EP) through ECO Canada and a Green Shores–informed practitioner, she is known for her deeply place-based approach to land stewardship—one that blends scientific rigour with lived ecological observation. Her work has been recognized through multiple environmental awards and featured in regional and national media. She continues to lead projects that restore ecological function while empowering individuals and communities to become active stewards of their land.
This event is free and open to the public. Donations are greatly appreciated. We welcome new volunteers to help with events like this one. Please contact us at info@transitionbay.ca for more information.
Calls to Action
Our province as we know it is at risk. The Provincial Government must soon understand the importance of protecting the province’s forests, biodiversity, and general environment. The Wildlife Division must be reinstated, along with funds to agriculture, health, schools, arts and culture, and social programs. The entire provincial budget must be rewritten before it is voted upon.
Speak to your MLA about this serious situation.
Sandy Lake’s predicament is a symptom of this. The Premier described his error of being too “clinical” in his budget creation. Does he see that he has approached all of the Special Planning Areas, including Sandy Lake, in a clinical way? At Sandy Lake, a wealth of relevant scientific, cultural, and historical information has been eliminated from the decision-making process while he focuses on a simple bottom line – more housing at all costs. Simple math may work in accounting, but it is only one part of the real, complex, world.
Ask your MLA to look for themselves at the facts about Sandy Lake, and help us all get Sandy Lake removed from the Special Planning Area development list.
Ecological group warns of environmental impacts from Hwy. 101 connector
A Halifax ecological group believes an environmental assessment done on the Highway 101 connector will detail the irreversible damage to wildlife the project will have.
Jillian Ramsay, sustainable cities co-ordinator at the Ecology Action Centre, told The Todd Veinotte Show that any development around Sandy Lake, which is on the edge of the proposed highway connector, will be a risk to the environment.
“Sandy Lake is home to 15 rare and endangered species, including the Atlantic salmon, which is very vulnerable to any sort of siltation or pollution runoff, changing the pH of its water,” she said.
Mark Carney signs deal with Nova Scotia to simplify some environmental reviews
Prime Minister Mark Carney has agreed with Nova Scotia to simplify federal and provincial environmental approvals for major infrastructure and resource projects.
Carney and Premier Tim Houston announced the deal Friday after the prime minister delivered a brief speech to about 1,100 people at the Halifax Convention Centre, most of which focused on recent announcements about defence spending and public safety.
Before the two men started a private meeting at the downtown hall, Carney said the new agreement — dubbed the “one project, one review model”— is based on close co-operation with Nova Scotia.
Conservation group looks to protect mainland moose and stop wind project
According to Al Muir, anyone lucky enough to see a Nova Scotia mainland moose in person will be on the receiving end of an unforgettable experience.
“You might get one close to 1,000 pounds,” Muir, president of the Moose Conservation Association of Nova Scotia, told CTV News.
Muir said mainland moose are huge, beautiful and an endangered species. Back in the ‘60s, the mainland moose population in Nova Scotia was more than 5,000, but it has dwindled to much lower numbers in recent years.
“We estimate we now have 250 animals, but it could be slightly more or less than that,” he said.
We’re seeking a high energy and self-motivated team member who is excited by the opportunity to play a pivotal role in furthering our organizations’ footprint in Atlantic Canada.
The Communications Coordinator would be responsible for creating and implementing integrated marketing and communications strategies for external and internal audiences. This includes understanding the desired impact of our organizations, developing engaging content for multiple audiences, supporting community outreach and engagement, organizing events, and managing communication activities.
Coastal Action is looking for a dedicated and enthusiastic team player to fill our Environmental Education Coordinator role. This is a full-time position beginning in April and extending through December 2026.
Reporting to the Environmental Education Program Manager, the Environmental Education Coordinator is responsible for developing, delivering, and overseeing assigned projects as well as contributing to the growth of Coastal Action’s programming.
Coastal Action is looking for a dedicated and enthusiastic team player to fill our Environmental Educator role. This is a full-time position beginning in May and extending through August 2026.
Reporting to the Environmental Education Program Manager, the Environmental Educator supports Coastal Action’s Environmental Education Projects by assisting with project work, program delivery, tracking project metrics, and assisting with day-to-day project operations.
The Program Coordinator is an essential role within Terranaut Club, responsible for both program administration (~60%)—including communications, development, and coordination—and program delivery (~40%), involving leading or supporting programs and activities. The Program Coordinator serves as the primary administrator for the development and coordination of day-long field trips and overnight programs during the summer season (June–August). This position works under the supervision of the Interim Director and the Director of Operations & Development, and collaborates closely with the Program Lead and Program Assistants.
Location: Hybrid: partly remote, communities across Nova Scotia and one in New Brunswick
Have you visited NSEN's Volunteer Hub yet? This tool is a powerful one-stop-shop where NSEN members can post volunteer positions and our network of volunteers can view and apply for opportunities that fit their interests. Submit a new position or apply today!
Join Halifax Regional Municipality at Albro Lake Beach (1 Sea King Drive, Dartmouth) for a hands-on, multi-day workshop using nature-based solutions to create a healthier and more resilient riparian zone. This event is happening over three days, from April 21-23, 2026, from 9am-4pm each day. Participants will actively participate in the naturalization of the lakeshore using techniques taught by Helping Nature Heal Inc. Registration is required. If you want to participate, please register online here: Albro Lake Naturalization Project | Halifax.
This workshop is open to everyone (ages 18 and older) and a variety of tasks will be available to suit different physical abilities and comfort levels. Participants will learn widely applicable approaches to enhancing freshwater shoreline health and promoting local biodiversity.
Pictou County Climate Summit: Exhibitor Application
May 29-30 at the Pictou County Wellness Centre
The Summit will bring together municipal leaders, businesses, organizations, and community members to explore and advance climate action across Pictou County. Highlights of the Summit include a collaborative 10 Tables Exercise, an evening Climate Social, and a full day of speakers and panel discussions.
The exhibitor showcase, located in the arena on the ground level of the Wellness Centre, will be open to the public throughout both days. This is a great opportunity for businesses to highlight their climate-focused products and services, connect with an engaged audience, and build meaningful regional connections.
To learn more, businesses can review the attached Exhibitor Package and submit an application using the following link: https://forms.office.com/r/MMTbPzBVDi
Save the date: "Connecting Communities to Ocean Science" ACCESS/BoFEP Biennial Conference
May 19-22, 2026, Mount Allison University, Sackville, New Brunswick
This year's conference is co-hosted by ACCESS (Atlantic Canada Coastal & Estuarine Science Society) and BoFEP (Bay of Fundy Ecosystem Partnership) at Mount Allison University in Sackville New Brunswick. This year our theme is "Connecting Communities to Ocean Science".
Program- Coming Soon!
Accomodation Information- Coming Soon!
Things to do and Workshops- Coming Soon!
Public consultation: 2026-2029 Federal Sustainable Development Strategy (FSDS)
The 120-day public consultation on the draft 2026-2029 Federal Sustainable Development Strategy (FSDS) is currently underway.
As shared previously, the draft Strategy outlines the Government of Canada's proposed goals, targets, and measures to build an inclusive society, grow our economy and protect our environment through federal action. Your perspectives are essential to ensuring the final Strategy reflects a wide range of perspectives from across the country.
We welcome comments from all people and organizations across in Canada—including youth, older adults, Indigenous Peoples, business and community organizations, and individuals with an interest in sustainable development.
The consultation period closes on May 12, 2026. If you have not yet done so, we encourage you to share your views and circulate this information within your networks.
MADW is an annual week of restoration action where individuals and organizations from around the world host and participate in local volunteer events in order to demonstrate the incredible positive impact that we can collectively have on the world's ecosystems.
It only takes 5 minutes to register an event, and it can be a great opportunity to join an international community, and share an inspiring message with your volunteers. All organizations are welcome, as are all ecological volunteer events, including those that are already registered with other initiatives (eg. World Environment Day, Ocean Week).
Event registration will be open until the end of the day on June 7th, but we encourage you to register your event as soon as possible.
Building Bridges: We are thrilled to announce that the Community of Practice (Beta) is officially open and free to join!
Designed for ocean professionals, researchers, and innovators, this is your dedicated space to break down technical barriers and adopt AI with confidence. The platform connects you with peers and innovative solutions, featuring a curated library of free resources ready for you to use today.
Here is what is waiting for you inside:
Free Online Courses: Start with our “Intro to Ocean AI and AI Literacy” to build your foundation.
AI & Data Tools: Access tools like “Data Overlap” and “Quality Control” to streamline your analysis.
Workshop Archive: Watch full recordings of our “Dive to AI” series to catch up on the latest discussions and techniques.
Cases & References: Browse our curated list of AI-related documents, reports, and case studies.
Discussion & Expert Q&A: Join the latest discussions and troubleshoot your technical questions with experts.
We will continue to add new resources and host events to strengthen connections and build the future of Ocean AI together.
👇 Join a free, open community that is ready for you!
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