In 2025, the municipality's Environment and Climate Change team, in partnership with TransCoastal Adaptations (TCA) at Saint Mary’s University and the Ecology Action Centre, launched Living Lakeshores. This project aims to increase the resilience of freshwater shorelines in the Halifax region and build community understanding of natural restoration approaches in sensitive ecosystems.
Throughout 2025 and 2026, we offered Green Shores Level 1 and 2 trainings. Now, through the fall of 2026 we will mobilize Green Shores restoration principles to improve the climate resilience and enhance biodiversity at Kinsmen First lake Beach in Sackville and Lake Echo Beach in Lake Echo.
Restoration events
The public information and training sessions will culminate in restoration events designed to improve water quality and enhance biodiversity.
First Lake Beach restoration
Location: 71 First Lake Drive, Lower Sackville
Dates: September 15 – 19
Time: 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. each day
Lake Echo Beach restoration
Location: 3168 Nova Scotia Trunk 7, Lake Echo
Dates: October 6 - 10
Time: 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. each day
The value of naturalization
Projects like Living Lakeshores promote resilient shoreline management through nature-based solutions. As the impacts of climate change become more frequent and intense, the municipality is committed to combatting flooding along our shorelines.
By aligning with ecologically-sound practices, installation projects like Living Lakeshores allow us to adapt and address climate change, while also sharing educational resources that empower residents to contribute to climate action.
The value of naturalization for maintaining healthy shorelines lies in the way that it:
- preserves and restores physical processes, like the natural flow of water and the movement of sediment
- maintains or enhances natural habitats and biodiversity along the shoreline
- prevents or reduces pollutants entering aquatic environments
