The Eastern ribbonsnake is considered a Threatened species in Nova Scotia under both the federal Species at Risk Act and the Nova Scotia Endangered Species Act. Ribbonsnakes appear to be restricted to particular wetland habitats in the southwest interior of the province. Their isolation from the main range of the species and their apparent small population make them vulnerable to population and environmental fluctuations. This small, harmless semi-aquatic species faces a number of threats including habitat loss to shoreline development 
and modification of water flow by dam construction or removal. Our limited understanding of its biology may be the greatest current impediment to recovery.