Landscape of Grand Pré 
Nova Scotia
Inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2012

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10th Anniversary of the
​Landscape of Grand Pré

Landscape of Grand Pré Inc. would like to thank the Province of Nova Scotia and the Municipality of the County of Kings for sponsoring the 10th anniversary celebrations of the Landscape of Grand Pré UNESCO World Heritage Site. We would also like to thank our many volunteers and Parks Canada staff for their support. Finally, thank you to all the participants who made the event a memorable one.

Dykeland System Upgrades

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Protecting communities and agricultural land from climate change.

Nova Scotia’s dykeland system protects agricultural land, public infrastructure, cultural assets and commercial and residential properties throughout the province. The system needs to be upgraded to reduce the potential economic, environmental and social effects of climate change as storms increase in intensity and frequency.

June 30th 2012

On June 30th, 2012, the Landscape of Grand-Pré became Canada’s 16th World Heritage Site, listed by UNESCO and 2022 marks its 10th year anniversary.
What is a UNESCO World Heritage Site?
Heritage is our legacy from the past, what we live with today, and what we pass on to future generations. Our cultural and natural heritage are both irreplaceable sources of life and inspiration. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) seeks to encourage the identification, protection and preservation of cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity. This is embodied in an international treaty, the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, adopted by UNESCO in 1972.
UNESCO World Heritage Sites have cultural and/or natural significance which is so exceptional as to transcend national boundaries and to be of common importance for present and future generations to come.
The Outstanding Universal Value of this remarkable agricultural and symbolic landscape is captured below:
The Landscape of Grand Pré is an exceptional living agricultural landscape, claimed from the sea in the 17th century and still in use today applying the same technology and the same community-based management. Grand Pré is also the iconic place of remembrance of the Acadians who lived in harmony with the native Mi’Kmaq people before the Expulsion which began in 1755. Its memorial constructions form the centre of the symbolic re-appropriation of the land of their origins by the Acadians, in the 20th century, in a spirit of peace and cultural sharing with the local area community.
Please see UNESCO ​for the approved and complete statement of Outstanding Universal Value.

Who is the Landscape of Grand Pré Inc.?

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Landscape of Grand Pré Inc. is a not-for-profit organisation, created on January 22, 2016, under the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act with its stated purposes to:
  1. To protect and preserve the Landscape of Grand Pré UNESCO World Heritage Site, in Grand Pré, Nova Scotia;
  2. To educate the public and increase its appreciation and awareness of the Landscape of Grand Pré UNESCO World Heritage Site and its history.
Landscape of Grand Pré Inc. is comprised of eight member organizations representing key stakeholders of the World Heritage Site. Member representatives meet at least once a year for an annual members’ meeting to provide oversight of the Corporation

Newsletter 

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Visitor Experience
Concept and Feasibility Study Report 
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Landscape of Grand Pré Inc. has received the final report of a visitor experience concept and feasibility study for the Landscape of Grand Pré World Heritage Site. The Board of Directors is pleased to share the report in order to generate additional discussion and input regarding the development of a visitor experience concept. 

Google Arts & Culture

Google Arts & Culture recently featured the Landscape of Grand Pré World Heritage Site in collaboration with Parks Canada.
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Discover. Learn. Enjoy.
The dykelands, fields, and settlement on the hills, first established by the Acadians in the 1680s, have been maintained and expanded over centuries by farmers of New England Planter descent, and later immigrants - including English and Scottish who came in the 19th and 20th centuries and Dutch who arrived after the Second World War.
Agricultural Excellence
​Here at Grand-Pré, as elsewhere in Acadie, the Acadians established their settlements to take advantage of the potentially fertile salt marshes. In fact, no other people in North America developed agricultural communities as extensively as the Acadians did by transforming intertidal zones with the use of aboiteau technology.
History and Development
​The incredible Grand Pré is steeped in historical relevance.  Since the 1680s, when a small group of Acadian settlers first arrived in the area and called the vast wetlands la grand pré  (The Big Meadow)  the human history of Grand Pré has been linked to its natural setting and the exceptional fertility of this land fertile agricultural land by the sea.

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