Roaring north toward James Bay, the waters of the Kesagami River tumble through a remote and largely untouched landscape. At the edge of the boreal forest, black spruce dwindle in size and frequency, giving way to a semi-frozen landscape of muskeg and bogs. The river itself drops through an almost unbroken series of rapids and falls as it heads toward the bay.

Kesagami was designated as a wilderness park in 1983. The new extension quadruples the size of the area protected, extending it south into the boreal forest and including large areas of black spruce and jack pine. Part of the new area is a large natural burn, a perfect example of the regenerative and important role that fire plays in the Boreal forest.

Kesagami is remote and difficult to reach, but it is classic wilderness — a place where natural processes and species have free reign. As a protected area, it will now be large enough to ensure that this state of wild things continues in the future. Kesagami is also home to a thriving wilderness tourism industry that will now be permanently protected from industrial activity.

This is one of the largest new protected areas — 76,000 hectares of undisturbed boreal forest in the heart of the Boreal East planning area near Timmins. It represents probably the largest intact area of rich, upland boreal forest left on Northeastern Ontario's extensive clay plain. The site weaves together extensive wetlands with well-drained upland forest areas where dense stands of large black and white spruce dominate. Tall jack pines mix in on sandier spots.

Mature boreal forests of black spruce, jack pine and white spruce have become increasingly scarce in Ontario — after clearcutting many sites have reverted to a younger forest of birch and aspen.

The beauties of the boreal are subtle: the topography is relatively flat in this clay-belt territory with lower poorly drained areas forming interesting peat bogs and fens. The mosses and lichens that carpet the forest floor and beard the low-limbed spruces are both a visual and tactile delight.

While the boreal is really a forest of winter, it comes alive in the summer when thousands of neotropical songbirds such as warblers return to nest in its insect rich and well-sheltered environment.

High levels of precipitation, including deep snowfalls, combined with rich soils make the forests of the Algoma Highlands some of the richest and most diverse in Canada. The ancient forests of these rugged uplands feature majestic white pine up to 15 stories high towering over a forest of large, mature sugar maples and massive yellow birch.

The new park will link up the Ranger North Conservation Reserve to the west through a system of relatively undisturbed forests and lakes to the ridgetops around Megisan Lake in the East. The site will take in a pine-studded ridge along the west side of Nushatogaini Lake and will protect important headwater areas for a number of rivers, including the Goulais and the Aubinadong, that will, in turn, link this site to other protected areas.

The Ranger North Reserve is a very rich old-growth pine site, but it has become increasingly isolated in recent years by logging operations. Now, its integration into the much larger Algoma Highlands protected area will result in the kind of large core protected zone that conservationists have been calling for in Algoma for years.

Proclaimed the "original site of the Garden of Eden" by the Group of Seven's J.E.H. MacDonald, the secluded forests and lakes of the Algoma Highlands are home to countless different species. including wolf, black bear, bald eagle, lake and brook trout, lynx, peregrine falcon and snowy owl.

The old-growth red and white pine forests of the Lower Spanish are remarkable for their density and size. On the west side of the Spanish River Valley, the land rolls softly, blanketed by the needles of the tall pines, while along the river itself, the topography is more rugged with granite cliffs and high ridges.

The pine forests of the Spanish may well constitute the largest remaining old-growth red and white pine forest in the world. Now this important example of the towering forests common to Ontario before the arrival of European settlers will be protected. As an example of natural pine forests with a high diversity of ages and species, this area is unparalleled.

The large, new protected area will run in a wide band down the west side of the Spanish from Pogamasing Lake to the lower reaches of the river near Acheson Creek. A rich mixed pine and hardwood area around Shakwa Lake will also be protected.

The Spanish is a river with strong natural and cultural values. The river was an important log-driving route in the early parts of this century. Now it is part of a different route — the Ancient Forest Watertrail, which links Algonquin to Lake Superior.

Renowned for its spectacular white quartzite ridges and azure lakes, Killarney is one of Ontario's most popular parks. It has, however, also long been considered "undersized" for its designation as a wilderness park.

Now the park boundaries will reach out to include an area of remote lakes and deep forests along the northern edge of the park along with important headwater areas to the east. The rock-finger peninsulas that extend out into the cold waters of Georgian Bay from the park's western boundary will also now be part of the park. This latter addition will include a number of sensitive alvar areas with their unique drought-resistant plant life. Overall, these changes will give the park much more "natural" boundaries, which will also help protect the sensitive lakes and habitat within it.

Killarney will also now link hands with its neighbour to the south — French River Waterway Park — through a new coastal reserve that will run down past the French to just north of Parry Sound. (Some First Nations lands along the coast will not be included.) This coastal reserve will include an archipelago of Georgian Bay islands scattered south and east of the park and along the shoreline. There will also be a significant expansion of the protected area at the mouth of the French River.

The classic clear waters and rock island scenery of this shoreline area has made it very popular with kayakers in recent years, especially near Killarney where the white quartzite and red granite ridges of the La Cloche Mountains form a spectacular backdrop.

Dotted with lakes and crossed by high-spring-flow rivers, this naturally diverse area is a great recreational retreat on the edge of Southern Ontario. It is also a remarkably large roadless area for an area this far south.

The area contains a rugged mixture of dry bedrock barrens, steep slopes and small cliffs as well as many wetlands — from bogs and peatlands to forested swamp. A diversity of forest types, including drought-resistant red oak-red pine stands, spruce-boreal around wetlands and, on richer sites, a hemlock-sugar maple mix, covers the area.

What makes the area even more interesting, however, is the similarities between the landforms and vegetation found here and those found along the Georgian Bay shoreline, more than 100 kilometres to the west.

In fact, the new protected area will take in a number of sites that have been identified for their interesting or rare plants and animals — from the five-lined skink, eastern hognose snake and prairie warbler to the red-shouldered hawk. Hawks and eagles seem to be particularly frequent visitors to the area, possibly due to their habit of navigating along its rocky ridgelines.

In the Bottle Creek area, there are fine examples along the creek shoreline of plants more common to the Atlantic Coastal area.

This large suite of interesting natural features combined with quiet canoe routes and good lake-trout fishing will make this a popular area for visitors. The Barrens also contain wilderness sections of the Ganaraska Hiking Trail and parts of a cross-country ski trail network, which means there are many ways of exploring this unique environment.

This new coastal corridor will come within a few kilometres of directly linking Pukaskwa National Park to Lake Superior Provincial Park. The corridor, running well inland, will serve as a connection for both wildlife and people along the rugged Superior coast between these two very large protected areas.

Together with a new large reserve on the south-eastern edge of Pukaskwa, this new protected zone will help to shelter elusive and increasingly rare woodland caribou as well as ice-age relic plants that cling to the storm-battered Superior shore.

From a recreational perspective, this is breathtaking terrain for hikers and paddlers. From massive headlands to sheltered coves and white-sand beaches, the Superior coast offers stunning vistas at every turn.

Known as the sixth Great Lake, Nipigon is the largest lake entirely within Ontario's boundaries. Its remoteness and limited access points have kept the lake largely pristine. Nipigon rewards those who make the effort to reach it, however, with a beautiful land and water-scape of scattered islands, deep bays, black-sand beaches and spectacular vistas from points such as Tchiatang Bluff and the Pallisades.

Nipigon's extensive new protected areas will also be at the heart of a system of waterway parks and protected corridors linking the huge Wabakimi Wilderness Park to its north to the Lake Superior shoreline to its south.

To the north, Nipigon will tie into a new extension of Wabakimi that will protect important woodland caribou habitat around Mojikit and Ogoki Lakes. (The islands of Lake Nipigon are also important caribou calving sites.) To the south, waterway parks along the Nipigon and Black Sturgeon river will complete the link to the Superior Coast and the cliff-lined Gravel River.

An aquatic protection zone on Lake Nipigon will also help to protect white pelicans and the lake's rich fisheries -- including a world-class brook trout fishery.

Hundreds of islands along with peninsulas and shoreline areas will add significant protection, particularly to the north end of this large lake. The Lake of the Woods area has an interesting mix of flora and fauna — everything from classic Canadian Shield boreal forest to prairie plants to southerly bur oak savannahs. About 120 pairs of bald eagles nest on the lake and waterfowl are plentiful. The lake is also estimated to support from 12,000 to 16,000 white pelicans, which can often be seen feeding in shallow bays. Lake of the Woods is also culturally important with many pictographs and petroglyphs.

Included are protected areas on the Aulneau Peninsula, well known locally for its rich wildlife populations.

Lake of the Woods is located at the heart of a busy cottaging area, and therefore protection will ensure that the Lake's natural treasures are not destroyed by development.

For further details, check out these related pages:

• First Nations & Communities, which discusses the natural values and significant economic opportunities for First Nations communities
• Ontario Region Map, which gives an overview of the three regions and some of their unique features