Cold Creek Conservation Area, usually Cold Creek, is an ecologically diverse protected

Area of Natural and Scientific Interest Area is the quantity that expresses the extent of a region on the plane or on a curved surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while '' surface area'' refers to the area of an o ...

in south-central

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

. The

conservation area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

was opened on 20 June 1962 by

Wilf Spooner Joseph Wilfred Spooner (February 8, 1910 – February 14, 2001) was a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1955 to 1967 who represented the northern Ontario riding of ...

and the

Toronto and Region Conservation Authority The Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) is a conservation authority in southern Ontario, Canada. It owns about of land in the Toronto region, and it employs more than 400 full-time employees and coordinates more than 3,000 volunt ...

. It is located on the western end of King Township, overlapping the

Oak Ridges Moraine The Oak Ridges Moraine is an ecologically important geological landform in the Mixedwood Plains of south-central Ontario, Canada. The moraine covers a geographic area of between Caledon and Rice Lake, near Peterborough. One of the most sign ...

. The Government of Ontario

Ministry of Natural Resources An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment, ...

classifies the area as a provincially significant ''Area of Natural and Scientific Interest'' (Life Science) for its "''provincially or regionally significant representative ecological features''". The area was also a site classified for the

International Biological Program The International Biological Program (IBP) was an effort between 1964 and 1974 to coordinate large-scale ecological and environmental studies. Organized in the wake of the successful International Geophysical Year (IGY) of 1957-1958, the Internati ...

. The Life Science area, known as ''Cold Creek Swamp'', is composed of a

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

and

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

. Cold Creek has hiking trails that cover the Oak Ridges Moraine and a boreal peat bog, among others. At least 110 species of birds have been observed at Cold Creek. Nest boxes are distributed throughout the conservation area to house birds and bats.

References

External links

Cold Creek Conservation Area website
{{Ontario parks Natural areas in King, Ontario Conservation areas in Ontario Areas of Natural and Scientific Interest Oak Ridges Moraine Protected areas established in 1962 1962 establishments in Ontario

See also

References

Further reading

External links