Ontario's Natural Heritage Areas - Ministry of Natural Resources

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Table 4-1. Ramsar Convention Sites in Ontario. Ramsar Convention Site Area (ha) Polar Bear Provincial Park 2,408,700 Southern James Bay 25,290 Minesing Swamp 6,000 Matchedash Bay 1,840 Provincial Wildlife Area 1 Long Point National Wildlife Area 13,730 and other properties Point Pelee National Park 1,564 Mer Bleue Conservation Area 3,447 St. Clair National Wildlife Area 2 244 Selection Criteria Total 2,460,815 1 The size of the Matchedash Bay Provincial Wildlife Area (1,046 ha; see Table 6-15 on page 233) and the Ramsar Site (1,840 ha) are different because they are managed for similar as well as different objectives. 2 The area of the St. Clair National Wildlife Area Ramsar Site is officially listed as 244 ha. However, since the Ramsar Site was designated, Environment Canada has acquired and added 41 ha of new habitat known as the Bear Creek Unit (N. Patterson, personal communication). Source: Ramsar Convention Secretariat (2007). Criteria for the designation of wetlands of international importance are classified into two groups: • Sites containing representative, rare, or unique wetland types. • Sites of international importance for conserving biodiversity (Ramsar Convention Secretariat, 2005). It is important to note that wetlands may be considered internationally important in the first group if they contain a representative, rare, or unique example of a natural or near-natural wetland type found within the appropriate biogeographic region. Sites recognized for conserving biodiversity are further subdivided into four categories, each with its own criteria: 1. Species and Ecological Communities – A wetland may be considered internationally important if it supports: • Vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered species or threatened ecological communities. Ontario’s Natural Heritage Areas 98 • Populations of plant and/or animal species important for maintaining the biological diversity of a particular biogeographic region. • Plant and/or animal species at a critical stage in their life cycle, or provides refuge during adverse conditions 2. Waterbirds – A wetland may be considered internationally important if it regularly supports: • 20,000 or more waterbirds. • 1% of the individuals in a population of one species or subspecies of waterbird. 3. Fish – A wetland may be considered internationally important if it: • Supports significant proportions of indigenous fish subspecies, species, or families, life-history stages, species interactions and/or populations that are representative of wetland benefits and/or values and thereby contributes to global biological diversity. • Is an important source of food for fish, spawning grounds, nursery, and/or migration path on which fish stocks, either within the wetland or elsewhere, depend. 4. Other Taxa – A wetland may be considered internationally important if it regularly: • Supports 1% of the individuals in a population of one species or subspecies of wetland-dependent non-avian animal species (Ramsar Convention Secretariat, 2005). Management Objectives and/or Guidelines Under the auspices of the ‘wise use’ principles, Contracting Parties work to: • Establish and implement national wetland conservation policies. • Undertake review and revision of legislation and governmental infrastructure to promote wetland conservation. • Undertake inventories and management planning for wetlands. • Promote wetland research.
Figure 4.7. Ramsar Convention Sites in Ontario in relation to Ecoregion boundaries. 5S Kenora 4S 3S 4W 2W 3W 0E 1E 2E 3E 4E THUNDER BAY 0 100 200 300 400 kms 6E 7E Ecoregions 5E L . S u p e r i o r L . M i c h i g a n POLAR BEAR PROVINCIAL PARK MINESING SWAMP Sault Ste. Marie ST.CLAIR POINT PELEE WINDSOR L . H u r o n SOUTHERN JAMES BAY (MOOSE RIVER & HANNAH BAY) Timmins L . E r i e North Bay MER BLEUE CONSERVATION AREA TORONTO L . O n t a r i o LONG POINT OTTAWA MATCHEDASH BAY PROVINCIAL WILDLIFE AREA This map is illustrative only. Do not rely on this map for legal administrative purposes. Do not rely on it as being a precise indicator of routes, locations of features, or as a guide to navigation. This map may contain cartographic errors or omissions. Published February, 2009 © 2009, Queen's Printer for Ontario Produced By: The Provincial Geomatics Service Centre Project Number: 7400_023 Projection: Lambert Conformal Conic Datum: North American Datum 1983 99 Ontario’s Natural Heritage Areas
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Ontario's Natural Heritage Areas - Ministry of Natural Resources

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