Sable Island National Park Reserve

Sable Island National Park Reserve
IUCN category II (national park)
Location	Halifax Regional Municipality  Nova Scotia  Canada
Nearest city	Halifax, Nova Scotia
Coordinates	43°57′00″N 59°54′57″W / 43.95000°N 59.91583°W / 43.95000; -59.91583Coordinates: 43°57′00″N 59°54′57″W / 43.95000°N 59.91583°W / 43.95000; -59.91583
Area	30 km2 (12 sq mi)
Established	June 20, 2013
Governing body	Parks Canada

Sable Island National Park Reserve is a Canadian national park reserve comprising Sable Island, 300 kilometres (190 mi) southeast of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and about 175 kilometres (109 mi) southeast of the closest point of mainland Nova Scotia in the Atlantic Ocean. Notable for its Sable Island Ponies, the island is protected under the National Parks Act, requiring permission from Parks Canada to visit. The establishment of the park reserve means that the island, and the surrounding area within 1 nautical mile, cannot be drilled for oil or natural gas. Sable Island became a National Park Reserve in June 2013, with the intention of becoming a national park once Aboriginal Canadian (Mi'kmaq) land claims are settled.

Sable Island derived its name from the French word for "sand". It lacks natural trees, being covered instead with marram grass and other low-growing vegetation. In 1901, the federal government planted over 80,000 trees in an attempt to stabilize the soil; all died. Subsequent plantings resulted in the survival of a single Scots pine. Although planted in the 1960s, it is only a few feet tall.

The island is home to over 550 free-roaming Sable Island Ponies, protected by law from human interference. This feral horse population is likely descended from horses confiscated from Acadians during the Great Expulsion and left on the island by Thomas Hancock, Boston merchant and uncle of John Hancock. In the past, excess horses were rounded up, shipped off the island, and sold, many used in coal mines on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. In 1960, the Canadian Government, under the Canada Shipping Act, gave the horse population full protection from human interference.