Great Lakes – St. Lawrence

Home to one-fifth of the fresh water in the world.

Region

The five Great Lakes play a crucial role in the daily lives of North Americans

The Great Lakes provide the plentiful resources that have long upheld the prosperity and natural beauty found in the region. More than half the people in Canada live in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River ecoregion, which includes large swathes of southern Ontario and Quebec.

To the south, about 10 per cent of Americans also live around the Great Lakes in the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Even more people visit the Great Lakes shores, forests, towns and countryside for commerce, adventure and recreation.

Photo Credit: Tye Gregg.

A vast freshwater system

Canada and the United States share the responsibility of stewarding this natural system which represents one-fifth of the world’s freshwater resources.

This vast freshwater system was shaped by ancient glaciers over thousands of years. The great masses of ice transformed the landscape, leaving behind countless bowls, craters and depressions that filled with life-giving meltwater when the last Ice Age released its grip on the continent.

Today, we know the five largest remaining basins as Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. These watersheds also connect to the St. Lawrence River, which flows east across the continent to the north Atlantic Ocean—a critical passageway for human commerce and wildlife migration.

The Great Lakes & St. Lawrence

A Healthy Continent Starts Here: An interactive map experience

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^“ Nearly 25% of Canada’s agricultural production and 7% of American farm production take place in the Great Lakes region. United States Environmental Protection Agency

Source of environmental, economic and cultural abundance

These five freshwater inland seas and their wide-ranging watersheds have supported environmental, economic and cultural abundance for millennia. But natural habitats are giving way to rapidly growing Great Lakes cities and towns.

Communities that make room for nature are rewarded with the benefits of healthy ecosystems and the biodiversity they support. By protecting wetland habitats—including remaining coastal wetlands—we ensure a healthy future for ourselves but also for birds and other wildlife—including many species at risk (such as Ontario’s declining turtle populations).

Effective conservation is community-driven

Communities are realizing the role of healthy landscapes in clean water and flood management, and Ducks Unlimited Canada is uniquely positioned to help with large-scale habitat restoration. Increasingly, we are seeing communities carry out innovative projects that restore pockets of lost natural infrastructure to shorelines and floodplains.

We are harnessing the power of nature to protect wildlife, clean water, flood mitigation, and health and happiness for communities. Our conservation projects that support ecosystem health include research, knowledge transfer, on-the-ground conservation, monitoring and inspections, and community outreach.

New habitat connects a waterway in high-growth Ajax area

Wetland restoration helps preserve natural space between the growing city and Lake Ontario

A Great Lakes interactive map experience

This interactive map of the Great Lakes shows how our community-based conservation is enriching nature, science, learning and community on both sides of the international border in this ecoregion. A collaborative project prepared by Ducks Unlimited Canada and Ducks Unlimited Inc.

Science shows that restoring nature is a proven path to cleaner water

The future of our lakes will be secure when we restore Canada’s natural infrastructure.

Learn more

Great Lakes environmental challenges ahead

The Great Lakes region is a Level II Conservation Priority in North America.

“Southern Ontario has one of the highest concentrations of species at risk of extinction in Canada, primarily due to the loss and degradation of habitat from human activities.”
Source: The State of the Environment in Ontario, May 2023. Bonnie Lysyk, auditor general.

Challenges to ecosystem health (habitat loss and degradation):

Ice cover reduced by 26 per cent over 50 years
Increased algae blooms in Lake Erie
Increased microplastics in Lake Ontario
High numbers of species at risk

Photo Credit: Mathew Schwartz

Invasive species: a growing pressure

Invasive aquatic species are living organisms that are transported to a new region—generally by people, often accidentally—and manage to survive and thrive there.

New paths are also being created by warming weather which allows wild plant and animal species to move northward into new ecoregions.

Chasing phragmites: The race we have to win

Racing to protect healthy wetland habitats for native plants and animals.

DUC’s European Water Chestnut Eradication Program in Ontario

Control and monitoring disrupt the seed cycle in Eastern Lake Ontario and the Rideau River.

Trusted partnerships in local communities

For decades, Ducks Unlimited Canada has been supported in our Great Lakes conservation work by the Government of Canada, the Province of Ontario, and local governments across the region. Thanks to generous donors, including fundraising events and challenges of all kinds, many Great Lakes projects receive “matched” funding under the North American Wetlands Conservation Act grant program.

Our community projects are carried out in collaboration with local businesses, regulatory agencies and civic conservation groups.