Experience the Frontenac Arch Biosphere

The Frontenac Arch Biosphere was nominated as Canada's 12th UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve in the spring of 2002, and was designated just a few months later, in November 2002. It is a celebration to the world of one of the most ecologically and culturally significant places on planet Earth.

The community rallied in support when the region was nominated to UNESCO those few years ago. The Biosphere designation does not bring new regulation or laws it celebrates one of the world's special places. In the years since, the Biosphere has become the focus of cooperation, with dozens of organizations and governments working together across its many communities and municipalities. The Frontenac Arch Biosphere has become one of the world's outstanding examples of sustainable community development.

Explore The Arch is a special example of sustainable community development. It is the community in action, a showcase of experiences, knowledge, culture, heritage and community. It is a place where the community can post and boast of the places and values and qualities that define us.

The Frontenac Arch, the ancient ridge of Precambrian granite bridging from the Canadian Shield to the Adirondack Mountains, is the roots of once towering mountains, worn and weathered over millions of years to today's gentle landscape. It is a north-south migration route for plants, animals and civilizations, and uniquely crossed east-west by the St. Lawrence Valley, connecting the Great Lakes Basin to the Atlantic Coast. The converging migration routes bring the five forest regions of the eastern continent together here, creating a rich ecology and a landform that has inspired mankind since the melt of the last ice age.