Special Places: Eco-lessons from the National Parks in Atlantic Canada

Student Information Sheet: Kouchibouguac National Park of Canada

The restless shore and sea

What’s in the park?

Kouchibouguac (KOOSH-e-boo-gwack) is a Mi’kmaq name meaning “river of long tides.” Sandy beaches and dunes (huge piles of sand) stretch along the ocean as far as the eye can see. Sand bars (ridges of sand) and barrier islands (long islands of sand near the shore) protect salt marshes (swamps) and lagoons (shallow ponds near the shore) from crashing waves.

© Parks Canada / Don Pentz

The beaches, sand bars and dunes are often moving because of the wind and the waves. This kind of change is considered a “natural process”, meaning it is part of nature.

The sand dunes have very few kinds of plants and animals because they are difficult places to live, having little soil or water. The sand can easily move from place to place, especially during storms. The salty air and salty sand is harsh to most plants. Dune grass called marram grass is one of the few plants that can grow there, even if covered in sand.

The lagoons are made up of shallow water with a bottom of mud and sand. Grass-like plants called eel grass grow there. Clams, worms, mud-shrimp and insect-like animals live in the muddy sand. Shorebirds poke in the mud with their long beaks to find a feast to eat!

Away from the shore, the park is covered with mixed woods called Acadian forest. Acadian forest has evergreens such as spruce mixed with hardwood trees such as maple, birch and poplar.

Cedar swamps and bogs are two other special habitats. Cedar swamps are wet forests with cedar trees and many small plants such as mosses, ferns and orchids. Bogs are wetlands that are often compared to huge moss sponges.

The park is popular for hiking, beach walking, bird watching, picnicking, cycling, swimming, canoeing, camping and cross-country skiing. Each year, more than 230,000 people visit the park.

In 1969 Kouchibouguac National Park was created to protect coastal sand dunes, lagoons and forests for our future. It is located in New Brunswick on the shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Why is this park special?

It protects beaches, sand dunes and lagoons, which are special habitats for plants and animals. This area is known as the Maritime Plain coast. The park also protects the natural processes that form and change these beaches, dunes and lagoons.

The park protects part of what is called the mixed Acadian forest of the Maritime Provinces. It is the only national park in Canada that protects large areas of white cedar swamps.

Kouchibouguac National Park has the second-largest common tern colony in Eastern North America. It also has nesting habitat for the endangered piping plover.

What is this park concerned about?

The park is concerned about protecting the sandy dunes and the species that live there. Dune grass is easily killed when people walk on it. The piping plover, an endangered species, needs sandy beaches to lay its eggs and raise its chicks.

Clams © Parks Canada / Don Pentz

There are also concerns that people are digging too many clams. On some beaches there are hardly any clams left.

Also, the park is concerned about protecting the tern colony from people and gulls.

References

Parks Canada Web site: www.parkscanada.gc.ca