Virginia Coast Reserve

The Volgenau Virginia Coast Reserve protects about 40,000 acres on the Atlantic side of Virginia’s Eastern Shore along the Delmarva Peninsula, spanning 14 barrier islands. Created by The Nature Conservancy in the early 1970s, it forms a natural buffer that absorbs coastal storms and helps shield the mainland. The reserve also sustains vital habitat for breeding and migrating birds, especially beach-nesting and colonial waterbirds such as piping plovers. Recognized as a National Natural Landmark in 1979, it is also the field site for the Virginia Coast Reserve Long-Term Ecological Research project, uniting conservation and scientific study in one of Virginia’s most important protected coastal landscapes.

Virginia · United States