ZONATION
Names of the different areas
Indicate the names of the different areas which make up the core area(s) and buffer zone(s).
The nomination application in 1985 focused entirely on the Long Point complex and the Inner Bay. Outer boundaries in Lake Erie were defined by the 10 m depth contour which coincided with the average depth of the summer thermocline in this portion of the lake, and with the outer limit of the most active erosion and sedimentation processes. On the mainland side, the boundary was set at the 100 year flood line; this had been mapped, and special restrictions were imposed by municipalities on development in this flood hazard zone. The Long Point National Wildlife Area constituted the "core area" and the property retained by the Long Point Company (an exclusive hunt club) between the two components of the national wildlife area was deemed to be de facto an integral part of the core area.
All of the rest of the area, including other major marshes in the complex and the Inner Bay, was deemed to be the buffer zone, in that they were retained in their natural state for various recreational uses. The buffer zone also included the intensive cottage development on Long Point Beach and Long Point Provincial (Recreation) Park towards the end of the road at Long Point Beach because they served to concentrate human recreational activities away from the core area. This buffer zone extended west along the mainland shore to embrace the Big Creek flood plain complex and east along the shore to the tip of Turkey Point.
The institutional arrangements over this area were rather complex. While four government agencies had the primary responsibilities for planning and management, other agencies had roles to play at five distinct levels of jurisdiction (an "international" level of jurisdiction came from two major binational agreements for fisheries and water quality for the Laurentian Great Lakes, which apply to Lake Erie). In addition, in 1985, some 30 local community organizations were involved with different issues associated with conservation and wildlife; hunting, fishing, and other outdoor recreation; local land use and development; environmental protection, and local cultural heritage and tourism. While conceptually, it would have been reasonable to include the 730 km2 Big Creek watershed and contiguous smaller watersheds (which drain into the Inner Bay) as part of the transition area / zone of cooperation, the organizational complexity entailed by adding more municipal and agricultural organizations into the mix was deemed (at the time) to make this unfeasible. The early difficulties experienced by the biosphere reserve group in developing an organizational structure that "worked" seems to have confirmed this judgement.
The situation of organizational complexity remains (See ANNEX 1). As the LPBR committee found its role among the various organizations and agencies, its interests have extended into issues of forest restoration and management on the mainland in the lower reaches of the watersheds draining into the bay. This has become a de facto part of the transition area / zone of cooperation. However, there is some reluctance to specify this with lines on maps because it could give rise to various misunderstandings among people who remain very concerned about private property rights.
Spatial configuration
A BIOSPHERE RESERVE ZONATION MAP of a relatively large scale (1:25,000 or 1:50,000) showing the delimitations of all core area(s) and buffer zone(s) must be provided. Also indicate the approximate extent of the transition area(s).
Size of the Core Area(s):
6,250 ha.*
Size of the Buffer Zone(s):
34,000 ha.*
Approximate size of Transition Area(s)
(if applicable)
350 ha.*
[*Note: Please see comments below. The size of these areas has been rounded off somewhat, but the total area is now given as 40,600 ha vs 27,000 ha in the original nomination. The difference is in the area within Lake Erie that can be viewed as a buffer zone].
Please see Map of the Long Point World Biosphere Reserve. This map is used in some of the public information materials prepared for the biosphere reserve.
Brief justification of this zonation (in terms of the various roles of biosphere reserves) as it appears on the zonation map.
The core area for the LPBR can remain the same as that identified in the 1985 nomination, that is, the area associated with the 22 km outer portion of Long Point in which public access is prohibited, except under special permission by owners of different portions of it. The area remains in its natural state, the owners do not reside on it, but they will lay trespass charges, usually against people who walk out on the point or visit the shoreline area by boat. The map shows only the portions of this area owned by the Canadian Wildlife Service (Long Point National Wildlife Area) as the "official" core. The intensive cottage and recreational camping areas at the base of the point might better be viewed as a transition area / zone of cooperation because of the wider range of human uses made of it. The remainder might still be called the buffer zone, as before.
The 7,800 ha Inner Bay portion of this zone does experience considerable recreational use on peak summer weekends, and there has been intensive cottage and marina development along most of its shoreline. The bay is essentially an "open access" area subject only to fishing and boating regulations, and there have been perceived incompatibilities among water-based recreational pursuits, especially during peak seasonal periods. An argument might be made to consider the Inner Bay to be an aquatic transition area, but it is retained here as part of the buffer zone. The map shows a somewhat larger area of Lake Erie within this area than did the original nomination, thereby making the buffer zone in the order of 34,000 ha.
Since the LPBR now has program activities in the Carolinian forests of the adjacent mainland, there is a de facto terrestrial transition area / zone of cooperation. This could be defined by particular forest tracts of interest for the biosphere reserve, such as the 491 ha Backus Woods or the 316 ha Turkey Point Provincial (Recreation) Park in the Turkey Point Tract, or just be described more generally (as seems to be preferred by the LPBR) as areas within the watersheds. Until further consideration of this is given by the LPBR committee, no size specifications have been assigned for this component here.
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