Feature Article June 12,2003
LAND O' LAKES NewsWeb HomeSpecial Places The Thousand Island-Frontenac Arch Biosphere ReserveThe Frontenac Arch is part of the Canadian Shield that extends down east of Kingston and sticks up as the Thousand Islands where it crosses the St. Lawrence River.
The Thousand Islands and the Frontenac Arch have been designated by UNESCO (The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) as a world Biosphere Reserve. This recognizes the area as a globally outstanding environmental area without putting any regulations on the area, its residents or their activities.
The Biosphere Reserve extends from along the St. Lawrence between Brockville and Gananoque all the way to Westport. It includes Charleston Lake, Queen's University Biological Station at Chaffey's Locks, and encircles Frontenac Provincial Park.
This is Canada's 12th Biosphere Reserve recognized by UNESCO. Besides the Thousand Islands - Frontenac Arch, Ontario has Long Point on Lake Erie, Bruce Peninsula and Fathom Five. Others are in Nova Scotia, Quebec, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia. They all have websites and can be found at: www.biospherecanada.ca .
The Biosphere Reserve network will coordinate several projects on the Thousand Islands- Frontenac Arch Biosphere Reserve. They will build nature trails, compile a geographic information system database, develop a rural tourism program, promote environmental stewardship, operate a water quality and level monitoring network, review plans for provincial and municipal parks in the area and generally try to help gain benefits for the environment, the economy and the enjoyment of people in the area. Their first task is to receive and to celebrate the special U.N. charter for the new reserve from Canada's Commission for UNESCO.
Many organizations and individuals worked hard and long to express and to document the outstanding values of this area and put them before the Man and Biosphere Bureau of UNESCO in Paris . They gained global recognition of this special place and we all owe them our thanks.
