Ontario's Natural Heritage Areas - Ministry of Natural Resources

Image by P.A. Gray
• Natural Area Links: Natural Area Links are
strategically located corridors that connect
significant natural areas and allow for the free
movement of animals and the continuity of
plant life. They are found primarily between the
Core Natural Area and the buffer designations,
but also extend to the edge of the greenbelt
connecting it to outside habitats.
• Cultivated Landscapes: Cultivated Landscapes
provide large areas for market-oriented farming
and forestry. They consist of large blocks of land
with high potential for agriculture and forestry,
typically characterized by productive (Class
1-3) soils, specialty crop land, and land with tile
drainage and buildings in good condition that
can support viable farm or forestry operations.
• Rural Landscapes: Rural Landscapes provide
areas for recreation, landscape protection, and
rural services and businesses. These areas are
comprised of lands that conserve the physical
and visual continuity of the greenbelt and
provide for public use and enjoyment. Rural
Landscapes offer opportunities for hobby farming
and other related visitor opportunities.
• Buildable Site Areas: Buildable Site Areas
provide space for specialized, large-scale
development. This designation encompasses
strategic locations for facility-intensive uses that,
due to the nature of their programs, benefit
from an extensive open area, isolation, or a rural
environment. These areas generally have low
visual quality and little ecological significance,
but are strategically located in terms of access to
transportation and servicing.
• Infrastructure Corridors: Infrastructure Corridors
facilitate the movement of people, goods, and
services to, through, and from the greenbelt.
These areas channel major services such as roads,
transitways, sewers, and watermains through
the greenbelt in a limited number of shared
corridors to avoid unnecessary fragmentation of
valuable natural or cultivated areas. The multipleuse
corridors often are the most intensively
developed and used parts of the greenbelt.
Most corridors build upon major transportation
links that connect the inner urban area with
the outlying urban communities or other cities
(National Capital Commission, 1996:37-46).
Management Objectives and/or Guidelines
The management objectives of the seven land use
designations outlined in the Greenbelt Master Plan
include:
• Core Natural Areas: The primary uses include
nature interpretation and ecological research.
Acceptable recreational uses include activities
that are enhanced by a natural setting and do not
disrupt natural processes or fragment habitats
(e.g., nature study, walking, and cross-country
skiing on low-impact trails or boardwalks). Core
Natural Areas are permitted to evolve with
minimal intervention, except in cases where active
rehabilitation protects or enhances ecosystem
health, or where management is required for
reasons of public safety.
• Natural Area Buffers: Activities conform to
the land’s carrying capacity, level of ecosystem
health, and public appreciation of adjacent
Core Natural Areas. Non-intensive or linear
recreational uses such as bicycling, horseback
riding, walking, cross-country skiing, and camping
are encouraged.
• Natural Area Links: Uses include a range of lowintensity
land uses and activities that preserve
or enhance conditions for the movement of
wildlife, public appreciation of nature, and
improved visitor circulation along the Natural
Area Link. Areas designated as Natural Area
Links, but lacking the desired characteristics,
are rehabilitated. Activities that result in the
long-term interruption of link functions are
discouraged.
145 Ontario’s Natural Heritage Areas