Home to creatures great and small
Ambassadors’ Circle field trip: September 11-13, 2025
When asked about the significance of the 171,000 hectares of forest, wetlands and lakes that make up the Frontenac Arch, just north of Kingston, Ontario, Rob McRae replies with a question.
“Do you want the big story or the little one?” chuckles the program director of NCC’s Ontario Region.
Rob’s 700-pound story involves Alice the moose who left New York’s Adirondack Park 25 years ago. U.S. researchers tracked her as she swam across the St. Lawrence River into Canada, dodged traffic across Ontario’s Highway 401 and eventually arrived in Algonquin Provincial Park, two years and 570 kilometres from where she started.
“It’s a great story of connectivity,” Rob explains. “Alice’s successful journey proved the value of the Frontenac Arch,” which forms a critical habitat linking the northern forests of Algonquin to the Appalachian Mountain chain of eastern North America, called the A2A.
Without this connected mosaic of protected forests, lakes and rocky vistas (and plenty of luck!), Alice would never have completed her journey.
The deciduous hardwood forests of the Frontenac Arch are equally important to the tiny cerulean warbler. The 10-gram songbird breeds in the Arch then migrates more than 5,000 kilometres to winter in South America’s Andes Mountains. Already a species at risk, its future is dependent on the conservation of the five different forest regions that make the Frontenac Arch one of the most biodiverse regions in Canada and one of the most important forest corridors in North America.
The area’s rich natural environment is important to so many at-risk and globally rare species, in fact, that it was named a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve in 2002.
The role of Rob and his NCC team is to strike a balance between the conservation of these large blocks of precious habitats and the rapid growth in local housing and recreational activities like hiking, camping, fishing and biking.
“It’s tempting to think about protecting the environment by separating people from the land, but humans are a part of this ecosystem, too,” says Megan Quinn, NCC Ontario’s coordinator of conservation biology. “We want people to feel included in these lands. That’s part of why we protect it; it’s for the benefit of biodiversity, but it’s also for the people.”
Ambassadors’ Circle members will see firsthand how NCC is achieving that balance during a visit to the Frontenac Arch September 11-13, 2025. You will be among the first visitors to enjoy the 1.2-kilometre shoreline on NCC’s newly acquired Christie Lake Nature Reserve north of Westport. The trip will also include NCC’s Hawkridge Nature Reserve, the site of a rare rock barren ecosystem with pitch pine trees found only in this small area of eastern Ontario.
With the purchase of the 178-hectare Christie Lake property in January, NCC now owns and manages 3,320 hectares across the Frontenac Arch and has assisted with the protection of another 2,985 hectares of local habitat.
NCC’s vision is to continue expanding the A2A network through partnerships with governments, Indigenous Nations and communities, land trusts, private landowners and the Queen’s University Biological Station, which undertakes research, education and outreach in the Arch, often with help from NCC’s staff.
“We aim to conserve an additional 500 hectares or more by 2028,” says Rob. NCC’s efforts will help wildlife in the area — migrating birds, bats, insects and animals with large home ranges such as moose, black bear, eastern wolf and fisher — have more space to feed, nest, breed, move and thrive.
Alice’s trek inspired the original call to action, but NCC’s work is far from done.
“We have to protect and restore this incredible place so other roaming wildlife can follow in her footsteps.”
For details on our Ambassadors’ Circle event itinerary and to reserve your place on our September 11-13, 2025 tour, contact us at events@natureconservancy.ca.