The Greater Golden Horseshoe - that area wrapping around the western end of Lake Ontario - is one of the fastest growing regions in North America. Over the next 30 years, its population is expected to increase to about eleven million people from almost eight million.
Greenbelt Facts
The Greenbelt is a world-leading law that protects 1.8 million acres of prime farmland and green spaces around the Greater Golden Horseshoe from urban development.
It gives us clean water, healthy local food and $2.6 billion per year in ecological services.
Niagara
The Greenbelt protects about 100,000 acres of the Niagara Peninsula Tender Fruit and Grape Area. The Niagara Peninsula is the world's largest producers of ice-wine.
Niagara's 2.1 million tender fruit trees (peaches, pears, plums, cherries, grapes) produce about 800,000 baskets of fruit that would stretch along the QEW from Kingston to Niagara Falls.
Oak Ridges Moraine
The moraine stretches 160 kilometers from just east of Mono Mills at the Niagara Escarpment to Castleton, north east of Cobourg.
The moraine covers a geographic area of 1,900 square kilometers (734 sq mi) approximately 1/3 of the size of Prince Edward Island!
64 rivers or streams begin on the moraine and run either south directly or into Lake Ontario.
Holland Marsh
The Holland Marsh is Ontario's vegetable basket. Main crops are carrots and onions. Other crops include lettuce, celery, potatoes, cauliflower, beets, radish and parsnips.
Enough carrots are grown in the Holland Marsh to provide every man, woman and child in Canada with four pounds every year.
Agriculture
Farming is the dominant land use in the Greenbelt and farmers are the dominant land owners at just over 50%.
The Greenbelt produces over one quarter of Ontario's apples (26.57%); 87.63% of Ontario's peaches; 50.04% of Ontario's sour cherries; over 85% of Ontario's grapes; and 42.59% of Ontario's raspberries.
There are approximately 7,000 farms in the Greenbelt. Farming is still largely a family affair, with the majority being the sole proprietors.
Niagara Escarpment
The Niagara Escarpment is a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve, designated for its unique landform characteristics.
The Escarpment is a massive ridge of fossil rich sedimentary rock which began its formation 450 million years ago as the outer rim of a shallow sea known geologically as the Michigan Basin.
The Escarpment contains more than 300 bird species, 53 mammals, 36 reptiles and amphibians, 90 fish and 100 varieties of special interest flora including 37 types of wild orchids.
Rouge Park
Rouge Park is Canada's premier urban wilderness park. Over 47 km2 (11,500 acres) in size, it is protected park land in the Rouge River, Petticoat Creek and Duffins Creek watersheds, in and near Toronto, Canada's largest city.
Click on the icons to learn more about the Greenbelt.