About NEBR - Administration

Administration of the Niagara Escarpment Biosphere Reserve

The Niagara Escarpment Plan (NEP) supports three major functions including administrating land use designations and policies, setting development criteria and providing for a Parks and Open Space System. The designations within the Plan Area correspond with the three zones of a biosphere reserves: co-operation (also known as transition), core and buffer. Different development criteria and permitted uses apply to each zone, depending on its level of protection.

The framework of the Parks and Open Space System enhances the Plan, providing for the establishment and coordination of 136 parks that are linked by the Bruce Trail. Together, they contribute to the network of core areas within the Niagara Escarpment Biosphere Reserve. The largest publicly owned park areas are the Bruce Peninsula National Park of Canada and Fathom Five National Marine Park of Canada at the northern end of the biosphere. Their presence contributed strongly to the Niagara Escarpment's designation as a biosphere reserve.

From a regulatory standpoint, the Niagara Escarpment Biosphere Reserve is unique. It is enshrined in provincial legislation (the Niagara Escarpment Planning and Development Act) which is embodied in a provincially adopted environmental plan (the Niagara Escarpment Plan). A special purpose body, the Niagara Escarpment Commission, implements the Plan.

The Commission is composed of representatives from each of the Escarpment's municipal counties and regions and from the public-at-large. Its strength lies in its legal foundations and its ability to focus on the Niagara Escarpment as a whole across a wide range of political, government agency and stakeholder jurisdictions and interests.

Biosphere reserves, of course, are decidedly non-regulatory. The key functions of biosphere reserves are delivered through cooperation, information sharing, and community consensus and involvement.