Press Room

Mass Audubon has completed the purchase of the 110-acre Sacred Hearts property in Wareham, six months after raising $2.6 million in a mere 27 days from generous donors. This acquisition will ensure that the spectacular coastscape along Buzzards Bay will be permanently protected from private development.

The property formally becomes part of Great Neck Wildlife Sanctuary, which now includes more than 200 acres of saltmarsh and uplands, including a mile of coastline, in one of the most beautiful and ecologically vibrant areas of the South Coast.

Boston Magazine’s annual Best Of Boston® feature, which recognizes what is top flight in the Hub, the region, and Cape & Islands, has honored three Mass Audubon Wildlife sanctuaries for 2019.

Boston Nature Center in Mattapan has been selected in the “Best Neighborhood Diversion” category, while Joppa Flats Education Center in Newburyport and Drumlin Farm Wildlife Sanctuary in Lincoln have been chosen in the “Best Family Friendly Activity” category, North and West regions, respectively.

Visitors to Oak Knoll in Attleboro are going to discover a lot more to enjoy at the Mass Audubon wildlife sanctuary, thanks to a successful $375,000 campaign to purchase a 25-acre parcel on the popular nature center’s northern boundary. The additional land increases the wildlife sanctuary’s size by nearly 50 percent, to more than 76 acres.

Mass Audubon has named Melissa Lowe Cestaro new director of the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, succeeding Bob Prescott, who has served in the position nearly 40 years. She will be only the third person to occupy the post since Mass Audubon, the state’s largest nature conservation nonprofit, acquired the property in 1959. Lowe Cestaro will assume her new post on September 16th.

Mass Audubon's Picture This: Your Great Outdoors statewide photo contest welcomes shutterbugs of all ages, backgrounds, and levels of experience to share the natural beauty of the Bay State through their photography. The competition, which each year attracts hundreds of photographers who submit thousands of images, is now under way and continues through Monday, September 30.