YARMOUTH, N.S. -- A rare plant that grows only in Nova Scotia in Canada is getting special protections.
The Nature Conservancy of Canada says it is conserving a 25-hectare island that is home to the eastern baccharis, a three-metre flowering shrub that is listed as threatened under the Canadian Species at Risk Act.
The group says about 3,000 of the shrubs are found in the marshes of Lobster Bay Island, which is also an important habitat for shorebirds and waterfowl.
It says the eastern baccharis is more common on the east and southern coasts of the U.S.
The conservancy says it bought the property from John Brett, who wanted to see its rare salt marsh plants permanently protected, and was funded in part by the federal government
The group says salt marshes are some of the most productive ecosystems in the world, but that up to 60 per cent of "pre-European settlement marshes have been lost to draining or development."
