Hi all,
As the first signs of spring begin to show themselves (in some places anyway), we hope you have enjoyed a lovely winter. With this first full newsletter of 2026, we look forward to what the year will hold for the KBA program, and highlight several opportunities that may be of interest occurring later this spring and summer.
As a reminder, please find our Annual Report for last year here: 2025 Annual Report
Looking forward to the rest of 2026, the KBA Canada Strategy document will be a roadmap for the direction of the KBA program as KBA identification wraps up. If you see potential alignment between objectives and goals in the KBA Strategy and your own organizational objectives, please reach out. We’d love to collaborate or brainstorm with you.
It may still be winter across much of Canada, but there’s no better time to start planning your summer travels and nature excursions. For some inspiration, check out Birds Canada KBA Coordinator Amanda Bichel’s recounting of her 2025 road trips to visit several KBAs across BC and Alberta.
The annual City Nature Challenge (CNC) is back this year, running from April 24-27! As in past years, cities across the world will be competing in a friendly biodiversity challenge to collect and identify the most iNaturalist observations during the challenge. More than 670 cities from around the world took part in last year’s CNC, and this year there will be over 40 Canadian cities participating. This Nature Challenge is a great opportunity to explore some of the urban and peri-urban KBAs near you, which may be close to home but still exceptionally important places for securing the survival of species and ecosystems. Check out this interactive story map to find KBAs within participating CNC cities, and check out the City Nature Challenge Canada iNaturalist page to submit your observations.
Interested in cataloging insects in a KBA near you? Join Bug Quest!
BugQuest is a national project starting this year with the goal of contributing to the inventory and identification of insects across Canada using DNA barcoding. Researchers at the Centre for Biodiversity Genomics at the University of Guelph are inviting interested communities, organizations, groups, and schools to participate in this initiative, which builds on previous nation-wide insect sampling programs. Participants will receive ready-to-use-kits including all the equipment and materials needed, and will receive full reports of the results they collect. If you are a steward or caretaker of a KBA near you (or even an aspiring steward), this could be a fantastic opportunity for a better understanding of insect diversity within your KBA. Visit the BugQuest website to learn more, or reach out to learn more and chat with the organizers.
An estimated 44% of published and candidate KBAs in Canada have a freshwater focus, and Watersheds Canada’s extensive Freshwater Stewardship Community contains hundreds of dedicated organizations and individuals that are likely linked to most of those sites already. Check out this webinar presented to the Freshwater Stewardship Community, which provides an update on freshwater KBA work and highlights how people can get involved to help complete the identification of species KBAs, as well as be involved in caretaking and community science monitoring around these sites. And check out Watershed Canada for more webinars and resources related to freshwater ecosystems.
Kouchibouguac and Richibucto Coast KBA
The Kouchibouguac and Richibucto Coast Key Biodiversity Area stretches along New Brunswick’s east coast, featuring a dynamic 35km system of beaches and barrier dunes along the Northumberland Strait. Located within Mi’gma’ki (the traditional territory of the Mi’gmaq) the site holds deep cultural significance alongside its exceptional ecological value. Kouchibouguac, is of Mi’gmaq origin and means “river of the long tides”.
Much of this remarkable KBA lies within Kouchibouguac National Park, a 238km² mosaic of forests, freshwater wetlands, estuaries, salt marshes, and barrier islands. Every few years, storms significantly modify coastal habitats in this area, washing over beaches and sections of barrier islands, causing significant erosion and clearing vegetation through wave overwash and flooding. These ever changing habitats are significant breeding sites for Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus melodus) and support the largest Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) colony in the Maritimes (one of the largest in North America), with more than 10,400 birds recorded in recent years!
This site is also globally significant for several rare plants, including Gulf of St. Lawrence Aster (Symphyotrichum laurentianum), Gulf of St. Lawrence Pinweed (Lechea maritima var. subcylindrica) – about half of whose global populations occur within the park – and Roland’s Sea-blite (Suaeda rolandii), a specialist of tidal flats and salt marshes.
To learn more about this KBA visit: https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=NB003
Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) © Kentish Plumber
Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus melodus) taken in New Brunswick’s Kouchibouguac National Park!
© Oliver Prowse
Gulf of St. Lawrence Aster (Symphyotrichum laurentianum) © Lewnanny Richardson
Laura’s Clubtail (Stylurus laurae)
Laura’s Clubtail (Stylurus laurae) is a medium-sized clubtail dragonfly in the dragonfly family Gomphidae. It has bright green eyes and a pale face marked by one or two dark cross bars. Its thorax has bold green or yellow stripes down the middle and a slightly widened “club” shape at the tip, hence its name. An estimated 50% of the Canadian population for this species is found at (the newly published) Big Otter Creek KBA, where its larvae burrow in sandy or sandy- muddy bottomed creeks with forested shorelines.
To learn more about this species click here.
Laura’s Clubtail (Stylurus laurae) © TomWilson09
The following new KBAs were added to the Registry over the past three months:
Baie Comeau (Quebec): https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=QC082
Bird Islands, Table Bay (Newfoundland and Labrador): https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=NL065
Chepstow and MacKinnon Points (Prince Edward Island): https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=PE002
Cookson Reservoir (Saskatchewan): https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=SK121
Desolation and Pendrell Sounds (British Columbia): https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=BC067
Reflex, Killarney, and Freshwater Lakes (Alberta): https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=AB032
Scott Inlet (Nunavut): https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=NU070
Beavervale Meadow (British Columbia): https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=BC326
Carway Wetlands (Alberta): https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=AB141
Coal Canyon Upper Wetlands (Alberta): https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=AB140
Fairview Meadow (British Columbia): https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=BC327
Goose Creek Meadows (British Columbia): https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=BC328
Île Bonaventure – Baie de Percé (Quebec): https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=QC001
Lloyd’s Meadows (British Columbia): https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=BC329
Lynn Canyon (British Columbia): https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=BC322
Outpost Lake (Alberta): https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=AB143
Record Ridge (British Columbia): https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=BC324
Sidney Island – Wymond Point (British Columbia): https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=BC325
Sparrowhawk Mountain (Alberta): https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=AB144
Yellow Point (British Columbia): https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=BC330
Europa Peatlands (British Columbia): https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=BC336
Graces Road to Lower St. Esprit (Nova Scotia): https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=NS104
Silver Mine (Nova Scotia): https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=NS106
South Pender Island (British Columbia): https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=BC334
Woodley Range (British Columbia): https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=BC337
Big Otter Creek (Ontario): https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=ON210
Old Wives and Frederick Lakes (Saskatchewan): https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=SK031
Anabusko, Kaskattama, and Kettle River Mouths (Manitoba): https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=MB006
Northern Head (Nova Scotia): https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=NS053
Buttertubs Marsh (British Columbia): https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=BC331
Carmanah Walbran Forest (British Columbia): https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=BC073
Coteau Sandhills (Saskatchewan): https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=SK140
Gracieville Bogs (Nova Scotia): https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=NS105
Mount Tuam (British Columbia): https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=BC323
SḰŦÁMEN – North Sidney Island (British Columbia): https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=BC339
S’amunu Wildlife Management Area (British Columbia): https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=BC051
Tsitika Mountain Fens (British Columbia): https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=BC341
Vananda (British Columbia): https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=BC335
Williams Creek Fens (British Columbia): https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=BC342
ȽEL,TOS – James Island- James Island (British Columbia): https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=BC338
Little Qualicum Estuary to Nanoose Bay:
https://www.keybiodiversityareas.org/site/factsheet/11072/site
Eastern Alberta Sand Plains: https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=AB122
T̸IX̱EṈ – Cordova Shore: https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=BC340
Harewood Plains: https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=BC333
Lethbridge Oldman River Valley: https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=AB142
New site versions published to the Registry:
Baccalieu Island (Newfoundland and Labrador): https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=NL003
Gannet Islands (Newfoundland and Labrador): https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=NL047
Kluane National Park and Reserve: A’ą̈y Chù (Yukon): https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=YK033
Kluane National Park and Reserve: Vulcan Mountain (Yukon): https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=YK035
Kouchibouguac and Richibucto Coast (New Brunswick): https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=NB003
Miscou Island (New Brunswick): https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=NB021
PEI National Park (Prince Edward Island): https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=PE013
Sable Island National Park Reserve (Nova Scotia): https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=NS025
The Brothers (Nova Scotia): https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=NS003
Tunstall Sandhills (Saskatchewan): https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=SK131
Val-Comeau (New Brunswick): https://kbacanada.org/site/?SiteCode=NB070
