Committed to the conservation, enhancement and stewardship of habitat across Newfoundland and Labrador

Almost the entirety of the Town of Elliston is within the Eastern Hyper-Oceanic Barrens ecoregion. Very few other municipalities (only ten) have land within this ecoregion, and it is one of the smallest ecoregions in the whole province. It represents a special conservation opportunity in Elliston. The Town of Elliston designated 3 Conservation Areas (CAs) within their municipal planning boundaries, which provide habitat for 100+ species of birds, totaling 1,114 acres of wildlife habitat conserved: Island Pond, Maberly to Little Catalina Trail, and Elliston Point.

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The Island Pond CA encompasses the southwestern portion of Elliston's municipal planning area, paralleling Highway 238 (Catalina Road). The Maberly to Little Catalina Trail CA extends 300m inland from the coastline, protecting both the trail and the coastline fossils. The Elliston Point CA includes the Puffin Viewing Site (Elliston Point) and the puffin island, as well as the trail to the puffin site.

 

These CAs are home to a variety of wildlife especially waterfowl such as Common Eider (Somateria mollissima), shorebirds such as Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus), Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus), Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres), and Sanderling (Calidris alba), seabirds such as Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica), Common Murre (Uria aalge), Razorbill (Alca torda), Black Guillemot (Cepphus grylle), Black-legged Kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla), and various species of gulls such as Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis), and songbirds such as American Pipit (Anthus rubescens), Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia), Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia), Blackpoll Warbler (Setophaga striata), and Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata).