Long Point World Biosphere Reserve

Long Point is located on the north shore of Lake Erie, Ontario, about 2.5 hours south west of Toronto. Situated in Norfolk County, Long Point and the surrounding watershed is an area rich with natural and cultural heritage in the heart of Carolinian Canada; home to a wide array of species, biodiverse ecosystems, and incredible scenery.

Reference: https://longpointbiosphere.com/location/

The Long Point area comprising 26,250 hectares, was designated as a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in April, 1986, the third in Canada.  Today it is one of 18 Biosphere Reserves in Canada. It provides an example of the Great Lakes coastal ecosystem and a unique blend of habitats.

Long uninterrupted beaches, undisturbed sand dunes, grassy ridges, wet meadows, woodlands, marshes and ponds, coldwater streams, and the shallow Inner Bay.  It is a world-renowned refuge and stopover for migrating birds in fall and spring, and waterfowl viewing is excellent in March and April. Its delicate dunes and marshes teem with songbirds, spawning fish, turtles and frogs.

 

The Southern Norfolk sand plains that lie immediately to the north of Long Point are well-known for their rich agricultural lands, tallgrass prairie and oak savanna remnants, wetlands and forests.  Farmers, woodlot owners and other rural property owners living here take great pride in practicing sound land stewardship and value the interaction they have with the biodiversity in this special part of Ontario.

 

Within the watersheds that feed Long Point Bay are some of the finest examples of Canada’s remaining Carolinian forest and habitat’s that have arguably the highest diversity of plants and animals anywhere in our country.  This includes a wide variety of fish and game as well as many species at risk such as the threatened Eastern Fox Snake, Blanding’s Turtle, the endangered American Badger and, Eastern Flowering Dogwood.