The Corridor Project: Protecting 32,900 acres of wilderness and counting

We are thrilled to announce a major milestone in protecting Georgian Bay’s irreplaceable wilderness for everyone. The Georgian Bay Land Trust and the Township of Georgian Bay have signed an agreement to conserve a network of land stretching from Honey Harbour to Twelve Mile Bay, directly conserving 553 acres of municipal land and providing additional protection to 32,900 acres of crown forests and wetlands. This is just the start of the Land Trust’s ongoing Corridor Project, whose goal is to secure our region’s ecological integrity and protect public access to nature by creating a protected habitat corridor along much of Georgian Bay’s eastern shoreline.

Why is a corridor important? People need access to nature, and nature needs space and connectivity in order to survive. In Canada and around the world, animal populations and the habitats they depend on are disappearing at an alarming rate. Just south of Georgian Bay, 70% of Ontario’s forests and 80% of its wetlands have been destroyed, and pressures are growing in the Georgian Bay area. We’re extremely fortunate that at this moment, eastern Georgian Bay remains a pocket with large areas of mostly intact wilderness, and a refuge for many plant and animal species that struggle to survive elsewhere. Our natural areas are an extraordinary legacy to leave to future generations and to the world – incredibly important places to protect.

The historic agreement between Georgian Bay Township and the Georgian Bay Land Trust significantly impacts this protection by conserving a 553-acre network of township lands stretching from northern Honey Harbour to Twelve Mile Bay, and from Highway 400 west to the coast. These lands have been zoned for environmental protection by the township due to the important forests and wetlands they contain, and the agreement with the Land Trust now makes this status permanent, while ensuring that this land remains open for public recreation and Indigenous use. This agreement was developed in consultation with Moose Deer Point First Nation, and does not include any of the lands that the Township is working on returning to Moose Deer Point. Importantly, this network of newly protected lands surrounds approximately 32,900 acres of equally ecologically significant crown land. By protecting the township property, we are adding a significant layer of protection to all of these lands. The result is an extensive protected corridor that fills the gaps between existing conservation areas and dramatically increases long-term resiliency in the landscape.

We’re so grateful to those who have stepped up already to support this project. Firstly, to the Township of Georgian Bay, for the vision they have shown in leaving this legacy for the future. Thank you to the Government of Canada for providing $580,000 in funding through Canada’s Nature Fund, the Government of Ontario for providing $254,000 through the Greenlands Conservation Partnership program, supported by Ontario’s Land Trust Alliance, and to several private donors from the Georgian Bay community.

This is just the beginning of the Corridor Project, as we work over the next few years to fill in more gaps to the north and extend corridor protections through the Township of the Archipelago and Carling. We need your help to make this vision possible – learn more and get involved here.

This project was supported in part by funding from: