The ecological and associated resource use values of the Long Point area on the north shore of Lake Erie have long been recognized. The idea of a biosphere reserve arose about 20 years ago from an inter-university study that identified the main human-induced stresses that were impacting upon this area, the actions needed to lessen or remove such stresses in order to provide effective protection, and the array of government agencies at different jurisdictional levels that had formal responsibilities for management to address these stresses. Although there appeared to be no serious gaps in the overlay of institutions for planning and management of the Long Point area, there were considerable opportunities for improving communication and cooperation among them, and seeking a broader basis of community support for maintaining the ecological health of the whole area. The concept of a biosphere reserve was then raised as one means for doing this, while also bringing greater international recognition for the special values of Long Point.
From 1981-1984, the idea of a biosphere reserve was discussed at several public meetings in the Long Point area, and in consultation with officials from agencies that managed what would constitute the core area and buffer zones of a proposed biosphere reserve. By 1985, with the agreement of key agencies and general expressions of support from public meetings, a nomination submission was submitted to UNESCO/MAB and it was approved in 1986.
Getting some community consensus on how best to organize to carry out the functions of a biosphere reserve took more time, in part because there were some 30 local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) active in the Long Point area in matters that related to the purpose of a biosphere reserve. Many of them wanted to be involved. Locally-formed committees explored at least three different options between 1986-1989, taking each forward in due course to community meetings to debate their merits. Eventually, there was general agreement to form a non-profit charitable association (which is now the "Long Point World Biosphere Reserve Foundation"), which would be open for membership to whoever wished to join. The association had its inaugural meeting in 1990, and was formally incorporated with charitable status in 1993.
Over the past decade this association has proved to be workable and acceptable in the community. Membership in the association is in the order of 200+ people, there is an annual fund-raising event that provides enough money to cover modest levels of operational expenditures, and additional funds are raised from a variety of sources to carry out particular projects. The association has a 15-person Executive Committee whose members are elected for a three year term, once renewable, and five of the members are elected or re-elected at each annual meeting of the association. The executive meets 12 times a year. In recent years, there have been some 12-15 items of business on the agenda at any one time, and the association's annual budget over the last five years has been in the order of $50k, but varies widely depending upon the time volunteers can devote to successful fund-raising for particular projects.
The LPBR has carried out a number of public information, education and outreach activities; sponsored the development of a (sustainable) Community Action Plan and some related activities; established SI/MAB biodiversity monitoring plots in forest stands; undertaken forest restoration projects using native tree species; and explored a number of issues about implementing a "Long Point Country Monitoring Framework". The LPBR has identified about 50 monitoring activities carried out by different agencies and NGOs in the area for their own purposes that contribute to the monitoring function of a biosphere reserve. The LPBR also participates in community initiatives led by others, such as periodic clean-up of debris along the highway leading to Long Point, and events organized by local anglers to promote a catch-release sports fishery in the Inner Bay.
Most of the considerable research and monitoring that has gone on in the biosphere reserve has been carried out by governments, universities, and other NGOs, usually in informal cooperation or consultation with the LPBR. The main example is a 16 chapter "environmental folio" for the area, published in 1996. Bird Studies Canada, which is headquartered within the biosphere reserve, maintains the Long Point Bird Observatory which is the oldest continuously operated bird observatory in North America, and it sponsors a number of other volunteer-based bird monitoring, research and conservation programs in cooperation with other groups, both locally and across Canada. Several monitoring and/or research initiatives carried out in the LPBR are related to national programs such as Environment Canada's Ecological Monitoring and Assessment Network (EMAN), and to international programs such as the Canada-United States Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, the North American Waterfowl Management Plan, and the North American Bird Conservation Initiative.
With the considerable reductions in staff and budgets at all levels of government over the past decade, the management agencies for the Long Point area have become much more constrained in what they can do. At the same time, there are now at least 40 local NGOs active in matters that relate to the purpose of a biosphere reserve. The LPBR has served to keep "horizontal" communications and cooperation across different sets of these groups, and given the emerging organizational and political context, this role for the LPBR may be even more significant than envisioned when the idea for a biosphere reserve was first discussed almost 20 years ago. This role may be strengthened by having over 50 people, most still resident and active in the community, who have served terms on the executive committee for the LPBR association, and who remain supportive of it.
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