Mary's Point

Mary's Point
Map
Coordinates45°44′N 64°45′W / 45.733°N 64.750°W / 45.733; -64.750
Area12 square kilometres (4.6 sq mi)
Designated24 May 1982
Reference no.236[1]

Mary's Point is a 12 square kilometres (4.6 sq mi) wetland in Albert County, New Brunswick, Canada. It is at the head of the Bay of Fundy, just outside the small community of Harvey and approximately 40 km (25 mi) south of Moncton.[2] Designated a Ramsar wetland of international importance on May 24, 1982, it is also part of the Fundy biosphere reserve established in 2007,[3] which also contains the Shepody Bay wetland. It was also the first Canadian site in the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve, as part of the Bay of Fundy Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve.[4][5] It is within the Shepody Bay National Wildlife Area, which is administered by the Canadian Wildlife Service.[5]

Mary's Point is an important staging area for shorebirds migrating from the Canadian subarctic to South America during the fall, supporting up to two million semipalmated sandpipers annually, or nearly 75% of the global population of this species,[6] as well as millions of birds of other species.

Approximately 940 ha (2,300 acres) of the intertidal mudflats are under jurisdiction to the province of New Brunswick. Another 107 ha (260 acres) are owned by the Government of Canada, including the "most critical sites used by the large roosting flocks of shorebirds during high tide".[2] The remaining portion, covering most of the salt marsh, is privately owned. The federal government has attempted to purchase the land, but has been spurned.[2]

  1. ^ "Mary's Point". Ramsar Sites Information Service. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  2. ^ a b c "Mary's Point". Environment Canada. Archived from the original on 2008-05-25. Retrieved 2008-06-03.
  3. ^ "List of Biosphere Reserves which are wholly or partially Ramsar Wetlands". UNESCO. Retrieved 2008-06-06.
  4. ^ "Southern Bight - Minas Basin". Environment Canada. Archived from the original on October 2, 2006. Retrieved 2008-06-06.
  5. ^ a b "Bay of Fundy Tides, Mudflats and Estuaries". Petticodiac Riverkeeper. Archived from the original on 2008-04-14. Retrieved 2008-06-06.
  6. ^ "Shorebirds of Fundy". Hopewell Rocks Ocean Tidal Exploration Site. Archived from the original on 2008-09-18. Retrieved 2008-06-06.