Fundy National Park was established
in 1948, not so much to preserve an ecosystem,
as to rescue one. The landscape
represents the Maritime Acadian Highlands Natural
Region of Canada, and offers a number of recreational
as well as natural pursuits.
At 206 square kilometres, it
may be small for a National Park, but it encapsulates
the history of the Fundy Shore in New Brunswick,
when early settlers
struggled to eke out a living from the stony soil,
was in its heyday.
The park has two distinct faces:
the Fundy coastline with its world famous giant
tides and inter-tidal
zones rich with marine life, and its interior
backcountry of Acadian
forests, once sacrificed to the needs of civilization,
now on the road to recovery and criss-crossed
with hiking trails.
Park researchers have learned
amazing things about the Northern
Flying Squirrel and its importance to the
health of the forest. Other animal studies have
included the re- introduction of Peregrine
Falcons to the Fundy coast.