The purpose of this dataset is to depict the boundaries of the Niagara Escarpment Plan. The outer boundary of the area covered by the Niagara Escarpment Plan is fixed and inflexible. It can only be changed by a plan amendment. It is formed by a combination of features like: * roads * railways * electrical transmission lines * municipal and property boundaries * lot lines * rivers * other topographic features [More information](http://www.escarpment.org)

The Ontario Trail Network (OTN) contains geospatial networks of trails in urban, rural and wilderness settings that are managed by a named organization for transportation, recreation, active living or tourism purposes. The OTN relies on data sharing partnerships with local trail organizations and municipal, provincial and federal governments for ongoing updates and maintenance. Trails in the OTN must be: * associated with a named trail organization * intended for free or paid public access * marked and maintained The OTN collection includes two data classes: * Ontario Trail Network segment derived * Ontario Trail Network access points __Ontario Trail Network segment derived__ This spatial dataset represents segments of trails in the OTN. Trail segments define a linear corridor through the natural or urban environment. The corridors may be single segments or form a looping system. The data includes characteristics about each trail, such as: * trail name * trail association * permitted use * description * length Examples of trail types include: * hiking or walking * cycling * cross-country skiing and snowshoeing * paddling and portage * equestrian * snowmobiling, all terrain vehicle and off-road motorcycle * barrier free (wheelchair accessible) * ice skating Some trail networks have official access points. You can find the location of these points in the OTN_ACCESS_POINT spatial dataset. __Ontario Trail Network access points__ This spatial dataset represents the main access points to a trail system that is part of the OTN. This layer should be used together with OTN Segment Derived. Access points can be spatially related to a trail network based on relative location to a trail segment. Not all trail networks will have official access points.

Data covers natural, rural and urban lands in Ecoregions 6E and 7E, current to 2000-2002. This land use inventory supports key provincial initiatives including: * source water protection * natural spaces * biodiversity conservation * state of resources reporting

Wetlands are lands that are seasonally or permanently flooded by shallow water. They also include lands where the water table is close to the surface. The wetland polygons are managed independently from other hydro data classes and may overlap water bodies or other hydro data. Not all wetlands have been identified and mapped. Active maintenance is ongoing province wide. The currency and accuracy of the spatial representation is variable and requires on-the-ground verification.

The fish activity area data represents the consolidation of two fish data classes collected by the Ministry of Natural Resources. The data estimates locations used by fish for activities such as spawning and nursing young. Locations are represented as polygons. They may be related to a specific species or described more generally. There are additional sensitive features related to provincially tracked species and species at risk that are not available as part of the open data package. Sensitive features are subject to licensing and approvals and may be requested by contacting geospatial@ontario.ca.

Conservation Authority Administrative Areas are lands under the jurisdiction of a Conservation Authority. Instructions for downloading this dataset: * select the link below and scroll down the metadata record page until you find **Transfer Options** in the **Distribution Information** section * select the link beside the **Data for download** label * you must provide your name, organization and email address in order to access the dataset. This product requires the use of GIS software. *[GIS]: geographic information system

Minor urban center is one of the 7 Niagara Escarpment Plan land use designations. This designation includes rural settlements, villages and hamlets. The boundaries of minor urban centres are defined by the municipality in an approved official plan and/or secondary plan. [More information](http://www.escarpment.org)

The Big Picture 2002 is a legacy geographic information system (GIS) based landscape analysis. It is a partnership between the Nature Conservancy of Canada and the Ministry of Natural Resources’ Natural Heritage Information Centre. Many digital layers covering the Mixedwood Plains ecozone plus a portion of the Ontario Shield ecozone were compiled for this analysis. These layers include: * evaluated wetlands * forest cover * old growth forest * rare species and communities * waterbodies and watercourses * parks and protected areas * Areas of Natural and Scientific Interest (ANSIs) The data layers are overlaid in a GIS system and points are assigned to the features in each layer according to their conservation value. Core natural areas were identified by a combination of minimum size and a minimum point score per pixel. Potential linkages between these cores were computed by assigning scores to the landscape surrounding the cores based on the probable resistance to wildlife movement. We do not currently use this methodology for similar analyses.

Point locations of water and weather monitoring stations used by the [Surface Water Monitoring Centre](http://www.ontario.ca/page/surface-water-monitoring-centre) to assess flood and drought conditions across Ontario. Monitoring station types include: * streamflow gauge stations * Environment and Climate Change Canada climate stations * Ministry of Transportation road weather stations * Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) fire weather stations * MNR snow network stations (wildlife) * MNR snow survey stations (weather) * Ontario Power Generation snow survey stations (weather)

​The aquatic ecosystem classification (AEC) is a science-based tool that groups and classifies Ontario’s rivers and streams based on their: * physical attributes, such as water temperature * watershed characteristics, such as upstream drainage area The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) is responsible for sustainably managing and deriving economic benefit from the fisheries and water resources in the 490,000 km of Ontario’s rivers and streams. The AEC reduces the complexity of these vast aquatic networks using consistent and quantitative methods to build a standardized data foundation that helps MNRF staff with landscape level planning and policy development.