The Islands of the Great Lakes
Sprinkled throughout the Laurentian Great Lakes are 31,407 islands. These islands form the largest collection of freshwater islands in the world and their biodiversity is of global significance. The majority of the islands--over 22,000 of them--are in the Georgian Bay of Lake Huron within Canadian waters. Many of the larger islands are in Lake Superior. A little over 3,000 are in U.S. with the rest in Canadian waters. The islands are important as providers of habitat for colonial nesting waterbirds, stopover sites for migratory birds, habitat for fish, and a refuge for endangered and threatened species.
State of the Islands: A draft Framework for the Binational Conservation of Great Lakes Islands will be available for review after the 2006 workshops. We are looking for peer and public reviewers. Please email if you are willing to serve as a reviewer.
Characteristics: A full discussion of the characteristics of the Great Lakes islands will be posted here as soon as the draft Framework for the Binational Conservation of Great Lakes Islands is available. A draft of chapter three is included in the workshop handout.
Threats: A discussion draft of threats faced by Great Lakes islands is now available for review and comment. Please email for more information or to send comments.
Conservation status: Again, a full discussion of the conservation status of the Great Lakes islands will be posted here as soon as the draft Framework for the Binational Conservation of Great Lakes Islands is available.
Projects around Basin: We have compiled a PDF list of island projects throughout the Great Lakes. Please email to add projects.
Links: Coming soon! Submit ideas!
Maps/GIS: We hope to be able to provide on-line maps and geographic information later in 2006.
This website is under development -- please check back later in summer 2006 for more information on the islands or contact us now via email.