Ontario's natural heritage – a living legacy
Thousand-year-old cedar trees clinging to rock-cliffs | Tranquil forests harbouring rare or endangered species | Teeming marshes providing refuge to nesting birds
The Ontario Heritage Trust works to protect more than our cultural heritage. It also helps to ensure that our natural environment – wetlands, woodlands, grasslands and geological land formations – remains a viable and significant part of our future.
The Trust owns 170 natural heritage properties that protect 4,116 hectares (10,073 acres) of provincially significant natural heritage lands across the province. These properties protect a variety of rare and sensitive environments, and include wetlands, forested areas, cliffs, and a rare northern Ontario orchid habitat. Some of our natural heritage properties also have provincially significant archaeological sites.
The Trust works in collaboration with a range of partners, including conservation authorities, land trusts, field naturalists and the Bruce Trail Conservancy to steward these lands. Read on to learn about some of the natural heritage properties owned by the Trust. These properties showcase the variety of lands and features protected in perpetuity for the people of Ontario.
Ontario's natural heritage is rich and exceptionally diverse. Your support will help the Trust conserve this legacy so that we can all enjoy it now and protect it for future generations.
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Featured natural heritage properties
Southwestern Ontario Clarke Property
The Clarke property is located on the northern Bruce Peninsula and features spectacular views of the Lake Huron shoreline with numerous bays, low headlands, shoals and small islands ...
Greater Toronto Area Cheltenham Badlands
The Cheltenham Badlands is one of Ontario’s geological treasures, formed at the base of an ancient sea about 450 million years ago ...
Northern Ontario Great Manitou Island Property
Great Manitou Island – owned by the Ontario Heritage Trust – is the largest island in the Manitou Islands Provincial Nature Reserve ...
Southwestern Ontario The Devil’s Monument: Minhinick, LeFeuvre-Chupac and Schneider properties
The Devil’s Monument refers to the presence of a flowerpot that has long been a draw for locals and tourists alike. It is the only complete flowerpot on land along the east side of the Bruce Peninsula ...
Natural heritage properties by location
- Central Ontario
- Eastern Ontario
- Greater Toronto Area
- Niagara Falls and Region
- Northern Ontario
- Southwestern Ontario
