February 28, 2005
- The greenbelt includes about 1 million acres of newly protected land. The total area of land under protection in the Golden Horseshoe is now 1.8 million acres – an area larger than Prince Edward Island – including protected land of the Niagara Escarpment and the Oak Ridges Moraine.
- The greenbelt extends 325 kilometres from the eastern end of the Oak Ridges Moraine near Rice Lake, to the Niagara River in the west. It is about 80 kilometres wide at its widest point from the mouth of the Rouge River to the northern tip of Durham Region.
- The greenbelt’s new natural heritage system is about 535,000 acres in land area, and provides full protection for about three-quarters of the lakes, wetlands and forests in the greenbelt.
- The greenbelt brings under the plan the headwaters of all major watersheds in the western Greater Toronto Area that were not protected by the Niagara Escarpment or Oak Ridges Moraine plans.
- The greenbelt permanently protects about 100,000 acres of Niagara Peninsula tender fruit and grape specialty crop areas and the entire Holland Marsh specialty crop area of over 15,000 acres, located in York Region and Simcoe County.
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Contacts:
Patti Munce
Minister’s Office
416-585-6333
Victor Doyle
Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing
416-585-6014
www.greenbelt.ontario.ca
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