Nature and Wildlife Advocate — New Brunswick
Sometimes protecting wildlife begins with something as simple as listening.
The Nature Trust of New Brunswick has been using Autonomous Recording Units, or ARUs, in nature preserves throughout the province to record the sounds of wildlife. These small recording devices can remain in the field and capture the sounds of birds and other wildlife even when researchers and conservationists are not physically present.
I believe projects like this represent exactly the kind of conservation work we need more of in New Brunswick.
We cannot properly protect wildlife if we do not know what is living on the land.
Let the Forest Tell Us What Is There
When most people walk through a forest, they probably notice only a small percentage of the wildlife around them.
I know this myself as a nature and wildlife photographer.
You can walk through the woods and see very little. But if you stop moving, remain quiet and start listening, the forest changes.
You hear a chickadee calling from somewhere above you.
A woodpecker begins hammering against a tree.
A warbler calls from thick vegetation where you would probably never see it.
A frog calls from a wetland.
Something moves through the leaves.
Suddenly, what appeared to be an empty forest becomes a community of living things.
Technology such as ARUs allows conservationists to do something similar—but for much longer periods.
The Nature Trust says its Soundscape Project began in 2024 and uses solar-powered autonomous recording equipment in some of its remote and sensitive nature preserves. The equipment allows the organization to collect information about wildlife activity and habitat health throughout the year.
That is incredibly valuable.
They Are Already Finding Wildlife That Matters
One of the most exciting things about this technology is that you never know exactly what you are going to hear.
The Nature Trust has already documented a great example.
While staff were reviewing recordings collected by ARUs, they heard the distinctive call of a Common Nighthawk.
That was significant because the Common Nighthawk is a species at risk. The Nature Trust says the discovery came from recordings collected during its monitoring program at its preserves.
Think about what that means.
Without the recorder being there at the right place and at the right time, that bird might never have been documented.
It could have flown overhead.
It could have called in the evening.
Then it could have disappeared without anyone knowing it had been there.
Instead, there is now a record.
That information can help conservationists better understand which species are using protected properties and potentially whether those lands are providing the habitat those species need.
Species at Risk Need Habitat
This is where the story becomes much bigger than recording birds.
New Brunswick is home to numerous species that are facing conservation pressures.
The Nature Trust identifies species including the Canada Warbler, Common Nighthawk, Chimney Swift, Barn Swallow, Bobolink and Wood Turtle among the species at risk associated with its conservation work. The organization specifically prioritizes acquiring and protecting land that provides habitat for vulnerable species.
Federal bird-conservation planning also identifies numerous priority species in New Brunswick, including the Olive-sided Flycatcher, Rusty Blackbird, Barn Swallow and others.
These species cannot survive simply because we put their names on a government list.
They need habitat.
They need places to feed.
They need places to reproduce.
They need nesting areas.
They need wetlands, forests, grasslands and coastlines.
And they need those places to remain healthy enough to support them.
We Need to Know What We Have Before We Lose It
One of my biggest concerns as a nature and wildlife advocate is habitat loss.
New Brunswick is fortunate to still have tremendous natural areas, but that should never lead us to believe that there will always be another forest somewhere else.
Habitat fragmentation and forest loss matter.
Environment and Climate Change Canada's conservation strategy for New Brunswick's Bird Conservation Region 14 identified the loss and fragmentation of coniferous and deciduous forests from logging as a very high-ranked threat. The strategy specifically discusses impacts across mixed-wood forests, riparian forests and forested wetlands.
This is exactly why gathering better information about wildlife is so important.
Before we cut a forest, we should understand what lives there.
Before we drain or disturb a wetland, we should understand what depends upon it.
Before we build a road through wildlife habitat, we should understand what animals use that area to move between habitats.
And before we say an area has little ecological importance, we should make sure we have actually looked—and listened.
Technology Should Complement People in the Field
I do not believe technology should replace people actually walking through forests, examining habitats and observing wildlife.
There is enormous value in having biologists, conservationists, Indigenous knowledge holders, naturalists, photographers and ordinary citizens spending time on the land.
But technology can give those people another set of eyes and ears.
An ARU does not become tired after several hours.
It does not have to go home when darkness arrives.
It can continue listening when nobody else is around.
The Nature Trust says the recordings can help track biodiversity and seasonal wildlife behaviour while allowing monitoring to occur without repeatedly entering sensitive habitat. The units can even provide information about disturbances or potential encroachment in protected areas.
That last point is especially important.
Sometimes one of the best things we can do for wildlife is leave it alone.
If technology allows us to gather information without constantly entering nesting or breeding habitat, that is a conservation advantage.
Imagine What We Could Learn Across New Brunswick
I would like to see projects like this continue expanding.
Imagine a network of carefully placed acoustic monitoring stations throughout important forests, wetlands and conservation areas across New Brunswick.
Over several years, we could begin building an incredible record of the province's natural soundscape.
We could potentially identify when migratory birds arrive.
We could monitor changes in species occurrence.
We could compare wildlife activity between different habitats.
We could identify places being used by species at risk.
Most importantly, that information could help guide conservation decisions.
The Nature Trust is already inviting volunteers, bird enthusiasts and members of the public to help review ARU recordings and identify bird species.
I love that idea because conservation should not belong exclusively to governments or scientists.
It belongs to all of us.
Conservation Starts With Paying Attention
As a photographer, I often talk about documenting nature and wildlife because photographs create a record.
A photograph says:
This animal was here.
Sound recordings can do the same thing.
A bird calling from deep within a New Brunswick forest may never know that a small recording device captured its song.
But that little recording could become another piece of information helping us understand the health and importance of that forest.
That matters.
Because when we talk about protecting biodiversity, we are ultimately talking about protecting thousands of individual living things occupying thousands of interconnected habitats.
We cannot protect what we refuse to notice.
And sometimes noticing begins by simply becoming quiet enough to listen.
New Brunswick's Wild Places Are Talking
There is something else I find beautiful about this project.
Long after people leave a nature preserve for the evening, the forest continues.
Birds call.
Owls hunt.
Frogs begin their chorus.
Insects fill the darkness with sound.
Wind moves through the trees.
Rain strikes the leaves.
Wildlife continues living whether humans are there to witness it or not.
These autonomous recording units give us a small window into that world.
The information they collect can help scientists and conservation organizations, but I think they can also remind the rest of us of something important:
New Brunswick's forests are not empty spaces.
They are living communities.
Every call recorded from a bird is evidence of that life.
Every species detected gives us another reason to understand the habitat.
And every species at risk discovered should remind us that protecting land is about much more than preserving scenery.
It is about preserving life.
I applaud the Nature Trust of New Brunswick for using new technology to better understand the lands it protects. I hope the information gathered through this project continues to be shared with New Brunswickers and used to strengthen conservation across our province.
Because sometimes the first thing we need to do to protect nature is stop talking about it for a moment—
and listen to what nature is telling us.
Keith Dennis Brewer
Nature and Wildlife Advocate
New Brunswick, Canada
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