Memory, Place & Change: A Landscape Narrative of the Tantramar Marshes

The Tantramar Marshes are one of the largest contiguous salt marsh ecosystems on North America’s Atlantic Coast. The Marshes represent a hybrid landscape of agriculture, cultural artifacts, and transportation and energy infrastructure, marking a cultural and ecological crossroads- an essential bridge of fragile land connecting Nova-Scotia to New Brunswick. Rising sea levels are threatening the Marshes’ functions; they are in a vulnerable position with no overarching regulatory protection or adaptive strategy. The goal of this research is the creation of a landscape narrative of the Tantramar Marshes for use as catalyst for future landscape interventions. The landscape narrative method uses archival and secondary source data to interpret existing conditions and predictions of future outcomes, defining distinct epochs of landscape change. This research intends to inform future landscape interventions that seek to respond to the challenges of climate change and shifting land use on the Tantramar Marshes.