The map identifies forests, watersheds, wildlife habitat and wilderness areas that conservation groups believe should become part of Nova Scotia's protected areas network.

According to organizers, the proposed protected areas featured on the map would add approximately 2.3 per cent to Nova Scotia's protected land base if designated.

During a live demonstration of the tool, forest ecologist Donna Crossland explained that the map is designed to help Nova Scotians better understand both the opportunities and challenges facing conservation efforts.

"We were at 13.45 per cent protection in 2021, and now we're only, in the past five years, we've advanced by just one per cent," she said. "So getting to 20 per cent by 2030 means we need to get real and get moving on things."

The map allows users to explore existing protected areas, proposed conservation sites, old-growth forests, waterways and planned forestry operations.

For many groups in attendance, it also highlights a troubling reality: some of the same landscapes being proposed for protection continue to face industrial activity.

"Inside the proposed Ingram River Wilderness Area, you see dark brown patches, which are areas the government, the Department of Natural Resources, intends to convert to plantations, to high production forestry," Crossland said while navigating the map. "In other words, we're going to convert forests to crops of trees that will be harvested in short rotations of about 40 years."

She warned that many proposed protected areas are already being fragmented by roads and industrial forestry.

“Our protected areas are being chiseled away, frittered away, torn apart, roaded, broken up, fragmented, dried out, made into fire-prone areas,” she said. “It is paramount that we as a people, we as many groups, convince the government to stick with the plan and move forward.”

One example is the proposed Goldsmith Lake Wilderness Area, where volunteers have spent years documenting the region's ecological significance.

"Our group of volunteers has gathered so much evidence for the conservation value of Goldsmith that it's getting ridiculous," said Nina Newington of Save Our Old Forest.

She pointed to 178 species-at-risk occurrences, old-growth forest stands and endangered Atlantic salmon habitat that have been identified within the proposed wilderness area.

Despite that work, she said the province has not committed to formally evaluating the site for protection.

For organizers, the map is intended to be more than a collection of data points. It is a public resource designed to help Nova Scotians understand what remains at stake as the province works toward its conservation commitments.

The interactive map of community-proposed protected areas is now publicly available and can be explored at www.nspubliclands.ca.