Rising sea levels and coastal erosion are threatening the oldest burial grounds in Prince Edward Island. Provincial archaeologist Christian Thériault reports that approximately 300 archaeological sites are currently eroding or have already been lost to the sea.
The 30-metre retreat at Panmure Island and St. Andrew's Point
The Panmure Island and St. Andrew's Point cemeteries are currently among the most vulnerable locations on the island. According to provincial archaeologist Christian Thériault, the landforms supporting these pioneer cemeteries have retreated by roughly 30 metres since the 1930s. These sites, located in eastern P.E.I., are situated so close to the cliff edges that parts of the cemeteries are already collapsing into the ocean.
Shoreline protection efforts have seen mixed results in attempting to stall this decay. At Panmure Island, crews implemented a "living shoreline" in 2023, using natural materials like hay bales and baybrery shrubs to stabilize the coast. In contrast, the terrain at St. andrew's Point required the construction of a sandstone wall last winter to combat the waves, as the existing armour stone wall made natural stabilization impossible.
A breakdown of the 300 threatened archaeological sites
The scale of the loss extends far beyond a few isolated burial grounds. Thériault estimates that the 300 at-risk sites include a significant portion of the island's cultural heritage, with 62 per cent identified as Indigenous pre-contact sites and 31 per cent classified as historic sites . An additional 7 per cent contain a mix of both pre-contact and historic components .
As reported by CBC,the changing landscape is not only claiming graves but also threatening more than a dozen lighthouses across the province. While some structures may be protected , the province faces a difficult task in determining which landmarks can be saved and which must be abandoned to the sea.
The cultural taboo of relocating West Cape burials
Relocating human remains presents a significant emotional and ethical hurdle for the province. while previous projects in West Cape demonstrated that moving bodies from eroding sand and gravel terraces is a viable mitigation strategy, the process is far from simple. Thériault noted that there is a significant "taboo" regarding the movement of graves, meaning the province prefers not to exhume remains unless absolutely necessary.
The province faces several unresolved dilemmas regarding these sites. It remains unclear how much funding will be allocated to these "very expensive" protection projects, and there is no certainty that local families and communities will consent to the exhumation and relocation of their ancestors. The decision to move remains a last resort that will require intense community consultation.
The devastating benchmark of Hurricane Fiona
Climate change is accelerating the pace of destruction through more frequent and powerful storm events. matt McNeill, a senior adviser with P.E.I.'s Department of Land and Environment, noted that while coastal erosion is a natural process, extreme weather can cause massive damage in a single day. The 2022 impact of post-tropical storm Fiona serves as a primary example of this rapid degradation.
Current protection measures, such as the sandstone walls and living shorelines, have yet to face a storm event on the scale of Hurricane Fiona. Without facing such extreme conditions, officials cannot be certain if their current engineering solutions will hold against the increasingly violent weather patterns hitting the island.
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