Parks and Protected Areas

Parks and protected areas are very important components in the quest to preserve New Brunswick's natural legacy. They come in a variety of sizes and offer varying degrees of protection, and each one is important. At present, 3.1% of New Brunswick's landbase is protected under these designations.

In this section

Protected Natural Areas
Our protected natural areas are the best hope for conserving New Brunswick's natural character into the future.
National Parks
National parks are owned and operated by Parks Canada, a division of the National government.
Provincial Parks
New Brunswick boasts a variety of provincial parks, serving both to conserve nature and to provide recreational opportunities for citizens and tourists.

There are different categories of parks and protected areas, and for each there are different rules. Here is a brief overview of these differences:

  • National Park - These areas are operated by Parks Canada, an agency of the federal government. They have the divided purpose of maintaining ecological integrity while providing recreational opportunities.
  • Provincial Park - These areas are set up under the Parks Act, and may be a recreational park, campground, beach, wildlife park, picnic ground, resource park or reserve. Most are controlled by the Department of Tourism and Parks, with the exception of Mount Carleton; Mount Carleton is run by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
  • Class I Protected Natural Areas – those lands and water permanently set aside for the conservation of biological diversity. All activities are prohibited except by permit from DNR. They are controlled by DNR under the Protected Areas Act.
  • Class II Protected Natural Areas – Areas permanently set aside for the conservation of biological diversity, where certain recreational activities having minimal impact will be allowed. They are controlled by DNR under the Protected Natural Areas Act.


There are also, scattered throughout the province, various municipal parks and areas under conservation easements held by different agencies.

CPAWS NB is very interested in these parks and would like to hear comments from people who have been to these parks or has information about them that they would like to share. As well, if you have photos that you would like to share with us, please send them too, to rsteve@nb.sympatico.ca.