A new digital platform is giving people a chance to experience some of Nova Scotia’s most exceptional landscapes without leaving home.
The project, In Our Nature: The Hidden Wild, highlights more than 35,000 acres of land protected and managed by the Nova Scotia Nature Trust. Designed to immerse users in these often-remote environments, the platform aims to make conservation areas more accessible to the public.
These lands are generally open to the public for low-impact activities like hiking, fishing, paddling, and birding, but Nature Trust’s Communications Manager, Anna Weinstein, says many of our lands hold habitat that is intact because it is so difficult to access.”
Weinstein says there’s some areas that include sheer cliffs and sinkholes that are “absolutely breathtaking but not necessarily welcoming to the average hiker.”
Developed in collaboration with sustainability firm R&G Strategic, the initiative will feature two local stories that showcase the ecological importance and beauty of these protected spaces.
“Where Land Meets Sea” takes visitors to the Blanche Peninsula on Nova Scotia’s southwest coast, where in 2024 the Nature Trust accomplished the then-largest coastal conservation achievement in Nova Scotia history. The immersive tour includes tidal shifts, coastal wildlife, undersea forests, and more.
“A World Below” follows the rare gypsum karst landscape above- and below-ground at Plaister Cliffs on Cape Breton’s Bras d’Or.
A third story that’s planned to be added later this spring will follow a snow-covered river valley.
The Nature Trust says the project is intended to help more people connect with the lands preserved in their name, deepening awareness and appreciation for conservation efforts across the province.
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