Munroes Island, Pictou County

Munroes Island is natural sanctuary located on the shores of the Northumberland Strait, and is part of landscape of remarkable natural beauty known as Caribou-Munroes Island Provincial Park.

The island is connected to the mainland by a 2km long sandspit, creating a unique landscape of sand beaches, saltwater lagoons, and sheltered marshes.  It is  home to a rich array of plant and animal life, serving as a sanctuary for small mammals like red foxes and is a common nesting ground for migratory shorebirds and waterfowl, including black ducks, mergansers, and teal.

Munroes Island, like much of Nova Scotia’s coastline, faces significant threats from coastal erosion, sea-level rise, and the impacts of climate change. The sandspit and barrier beaches are particularly vulnerable to storm events, high tide surges, and wind-driven waves.

The island has been labeled on maps with a variety of names over the years, and the shows 3 official name changes.

On the 1777 Northumberland Strait Map the island is labeled as Schooner Ille, on the 1872 and 1878 maps it is shown as Doctor Island, and on the 1879 map it is called Little Caribou Island, and finally becomes Munroes Island in 1976. On the 1879 map it shows that the land belonged to an Alex Monro at the time,