Photo: Gary Clarke

“Sustainable tourism” just happens to be the fastest growing sector of tourism today, and in an effort to develop a county-wide strategy for sustainable tourism, a first workshop put on by the Frontenac Arch Biosphere Reserve (FABR) and Frontenac County attracted numerous councilors and all four township mayors, along with business owners and entrepreneurs looking to better understand and define the term.

The workshop offered insight into the topic by various leading professionals in the field. Gary Clarke, founding member and chair of FABR and a director of the Tourism Industry Association of Ontario, spoke of the trend for sustainable tourism which began in the early 1970s and solidified with the 1989 Brundtland Commission definition of it as tourism that “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. Soon afterwards, Canada Tourism developed its own definition: tourism that is “viable long term and which fosters appreciation and stewardship for natural, cultural and historic resources.”

Citing current statistics, Clarke demonstrated the increased demand for greener holidays by travelers worldwide, including 82% of US travelers to Canada, who said that environmentally friendly tourism is one of their primary considerations when choosing a destination.

Clarke pointed to countries like Wales and New Zealand who are on the leading edge of the sustainable tourism trend and who as a result are reaping the financial rewards. “Sustainability is smart business,” Clarke said. “The evidence is all there - we just need to wake up to it. Canada is already recognized globally as a tourist destination for its abundant natural beauty. So right now we are poised to take advantage of an opportunity and attitude that already exists. The questions now is – are we willing to gear up to do what it takes to take those important next steps?”

Ted Manning, director of Tourisk Inc. and also the leading provider of sustainable tourism strategies of the UN World Tourism Organization, spoke at length about the different sustainable tourism strategies he has witnessed around the world. He said that Frontenac County is an exceptional natural jewel that has much to gain. “The Frontenac area still remains in an almost untouched, pristine state and it provides experiences of nature that are just not available in most other parts of the world. Basically you're selling nature to people who do not have access to it otherwise. For that reason efforts must be made to make sure that tourism here develops in a sustainable way, keeping all of the area’s natural assets intact.”

Manning focused on targeting specific destinations; how to plan, protect and provide proper infrastructure to best develop the chosen locations; and how best to manage them in the long term. “The idea is to maximize the benefits for as many people as possible. You can't manage tourists, just the destinations.”

He covered key considerations when deciding on tourist destinations, how to capture the benefits while avoiding excessive costs, addressing issues of sensitivity, and how to measure impacts and risks. “You want to gain from tourism but not have to give up the farm to do it.” He also highlighted the fact that cooperation rather than competition between various area communities should be the order of the day.

He cited examples of this in the tourism plan of Nova Scotia which has successfully spread tourism out all along its coast into hundreds of tiny communities with the aid of coastal walking trails. “That plan has worked exceptionally well.”

The second half of the workshop was facilitated by FABR board member Louise Mantha, and participants described the present state of tourism in the county, which included descriptions of its inherent natural treasures, but also adjectives like dismal, non-existent and under-developed.

Next, participants listed the changes they would like to see in the future. The list was extensive and included better signage, access, information and mapping of trails, paddle routes, beaches and much more.

The last segment of the workshop concerned developing strategies to make these goals a reality. Imminent next steps included plans to form a steering committee on sustainable tourism at the county level; pursuing “buy in” from the various conservation authorities, municipal councils and other counties included in the area; and developing a sustainable tourism plan.

Don Ross, executive director of FABR, was thrilled with the enthusiasm shown at this first workshop. “Our job at FABR is to try to help with sustainable community development with the goal of finding ways to protect natural and cultural heritage - not by building fences or creating laws - but by bringing the community along in a stewardship role. We really hope to come out of this by being able to assist the county in writing up a blueprint for how to become sustainable in tourism over the long term. The idea is that with perspective and knowing what the interests are, to make a plan of how to go about getting there.”

It seems that after this initial meeting the county has come many steps closer to reaching that final goal.

Organizers of this year’s Frontenac Heritage Festival have been busy planning some new and exciting activities for the festival, which will take place Friday February 25 to Sunday February 27 in various locations around Central and North Frontenac. Now in its 5th year, the festival attracts over 1000 visitors to the area every year and is continuing to grow.

New this year will be a combined community walk/run organized by Joan and Rudy Hollywood, which will take place on Sunday Feb 27 at 2pm. Distances will vary from 2-10 kilometres and the run will loop around the village of Sharbot Lake. Participants will pay $2 per km with a maximum cost of $20 per family and all proceeds will benefit the local food bank. For more information contact Rudy Hollywood at 279-2761 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Also new this year will be the first ever Polar Bear Plunge organized by Mark Montagano, Richard Struthers and Bill Young, which will also take place on Sunday, Feb. 27 at the docks of the Sharbot Lake Marina. Registration begins at 8:45 AM and the plunge is scheduled to take place at 10:00AM. Plungers are needed! Anyone interested can get a pledge sheet and plungers are required to amass a minimum of $40 in pledges, with all funds going to the Central Frontenac Volunteer Fire Department to purchase a Thermal Imaging Device, which is used, among other things, to locate people in burning buildings. Prizes will be awarded for the oldest and youngest plungers and also for the one who receives the most pledges. “Chicken Plungers” - i.e. those who have no interest in braving the winter waves but who still want to support the cause - can still collect pledges.

For more information contact Mark Montagano at 279-2886, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

This year’s festival will open with keynote speaker Dr. Peter Frise, a leading Canadian research scientist who has roots in Mountain Grove, and who will likely share some interesting anecdotes about his grandfather, who was employed by CP Rail there.

This year’s festival will include all of the usual favorites, including various heritage displays at Oso hall, and a Saturday night variety show followed by fireworks. Other favorite venues like the indoor and outdoor displays and demonstrations at the Crow Lake Schoolhouse will be expanding. Also returning is the amateur photo contest, which last year attracted over 70 entries.

Any individual or organization who would like in any way to contribute, participate or volunteer can contact Janet Gutowski at 374-1355, Mike Procter at 279-2572, Tom Dewey at 335-2834 and/or attend the next festival meeting, which will be held at Oso Hall in Sharbot Lake on Monday January 10 at 6:30pm.

This time of year when I walk through the woods I am always looking for maple trees. I know most of the maples around our property by now, and certainly the sweet trees from years gone by - the ones that run when others don't; the ones that are 3/4 full when others are just getting started.

Maples are about 50 years old when they reach 10" in diameter and can be tapped, and many of the trees we tap are 150 years old or more. Trees take a longer view of things than humans.

Maples run when the weather is right, and why they run better in some years than other is debated, but no one seems to have definitive answer. The important thing for sugar producers, from the smallest scale hobbyist to the largest operators, is that we don't control the run.

As far as syrup goes, I'll say this about all the syrup producers, large and small, that I know of in Ontario, and probably Quebec and Vermont as well. Whether they tap 10,000 or 10 trees, use reverse osmosis machines, freeze the sap, use the fanciest evaporator or boil it over an open fire, the addition of technology does not alter the final product. The most industrial processes do not add any preservatives, additives, or anything else to the final product. When it says Pure Maple Syrup on a label, that's what it is. All a producer can do, whatever sophistication they bring to their operation, is retrieve sap and concentrate the sugar to 97% and put it in a container. The sap provides everything that is needed for a very long shelf life and an easily transported final product.

If there was something that is a gift from nature, the sweet water is just that. The basic idea that the subtle sweetness of late winter/early spring maple sap can be concentrated goes back a long way, to the indigenous roots of this broad region. The method of turning that sap into a locally produced sugar for year round use was a gift offered by the indigenous peoples to everyone who has come here since, and the sap itself is a gift from the trees, which were here first.

Depending on one's religious bent, that first day of late winter, when our instincts start to tell us that the sap will soon be running, can be a sign of many things. To me, it says that the land and the seasons have their own power, and while we run around organizing ourselves in so many ways, cutting the land into pieces, arguing about who owns it, who should own it, what the boundaries mean, who can dig where, who can build what and where, who can cut down this tree or that, harvest which fish or deer or moose, the land itself will carry on. It will recover from whatever we do to it, in time.

Our forests were cut down less than 200 years ago, an act of environmental devastation more complete than anything we would ever consider now, with the possible exception of some mining practices. The forest has not recovered just yet, but it will, in time.

Someday, maybe someday soon, the sugar maple will move to the north to keep up with a changing climate, just as we hear that camels moved from Ellesmere Island to the Saharan desert so many millions of years ago, but the trees will survive, and the sugar water will run even if there is no one left who has the desire or need or capacity to draw off some to make into sugar.

So while we spend a lot of time considering all of our conflicts, out joys and tragedies alike, it is certainly nice to contemplate the first true sign of the spring of the year, when the temperature rises, and the sun comes up earlier and stays up longer, and the sap is ready to run.