Lake Superior Biodiversity Conservation Strategy
Lake Superior is unique among the world’s 253 large freshwater lakes. Situated at the top of the chain of the Great Lakes it is the world’s largest freshwater lake, with more water than all the other Great Lakes combined. It is also a lake of extraordinary biodiversity. It contains endemic fishes, a unique deepwater form of Lake Trout, and the cool coastlines and islands harbor arctic-alpine plants and Woodland Caribou. It is also a region of growing threats. The assessment and strategy is the first in the Great Lakes to utilize watershed, coastal zone and water indices in the evaluation of major habitat types. This work was possible because of the science and information available from a number of major initiatives, including the Great Lakes indicators available through the State of the Lakes Ecosystem Conference process, the Great Lakes Environmental Indicators project, the Great Lakes Environmental Assessment and Mapping project, and the coastal condition index developed by The Nature Conservancy and the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC). This work was initiated and managed by the Superior Work Group of the Binational Program to Restore and Protect Lake Superior (which is responsible for preparing and implementing a Lakewide Action and Management Plan). Coordination was provided by the Nature Conservancy of Canada. For more information on the status of the strategy and additional background visit the NCC: Lake Superior Biodiversity Conservation Strategy website.