The A2A region is a vast cross-border patchwork of ecological communities. Some are connected, but most are fragmented. It is vitally important that the divided parts be connected and habitat improved, because populations of key species are falling.  

In addition, more than a hundred species at risk call the region home. Ongoing fragmentation is adding to their stress, further intensifying the need to connect habitat. 

Meanwhile, all species — plants, mammals, fish, birds, reptiles, insects, and amphibians — are facing growing stress as global warming advances. They will need resilience to survive and adapt. But it is the interlinking support found in biodiversity that provides resilience, and fragmentation has been eating away at biodiversity. 

A2A, the Algonquin to Adirondacks Conservation Association, is responding with broad programs to connect and improve habitat within the region that extends from Algonquin Park in Ontario to Adirondacks State Park in New York State, an area roughly the size of New Brunswick in Canada, or in the United States, an area almost as big as Maine. The region connects Canada’s Boreal Forest with the Appalachian Mountains down to the State of Georgia. It is the most important area for connectivity east of the Rocky Mountains.  

At the core of the region are the two parks linked by the Frontenac Arch, the southerly extension of the Precambrian Shield. To its west, and for a short distance to the east, there is limestone and, further to the east, the St. Lawrence lowlands. These areas support distinctive ecosystems which merge in the Thousand Islands area to form one of the most diverse ecosystems in North America.  

The entire region, and especially the Frontenac Arch, provide north-south pathways that allow wildlife to maintain genetic diversity. Animals travel these pathways, birds follow them, and with global warming pushing climate zones northward, even plants are  expanding along them.   

Canadians and Americans are fortunate that enough woodlands and wetlands have survived that some pathways still exist, fragile though they may be. 

Nevertheless, in both Canada and the United States, rapidly growing development pressures in key areas, the bottleneck at the St. Lawrence River caused by the hourglass shape of the Frontenac Arch, and existing gaps in habitat present powerful challenges to A2A. Meanwhile, global warming is shifting habitat climate conditions northerly at a rate of about 40 kilometres a decade, much faster than trees can expand their range. Time for action is short. 

Since much of the land in the region is privately owned, A2A works in partnership with landowners,  government agencies and public organizations to link habitat in ways that respect owners, benefit the land, and contribute to economic and social well-being.  

The A2A Conservation Association envisions a future where people can learn to live in harmony with nature, where biodiversity can remain vibrant, species can be protected, sustainability can be assured, and cross-border resilience to global warming can be strengthened.  

Yet, for any one of these objectives to be achieved, all must succeed. If one fails, all fail. 

For the sake of everything that lives — fish that must survive in warming waters, plants that are slow to migrate, animals and birds that depend on reliable habitat, insects and microbes that are the tireless maintenance workers for the environment, and people on both sides of the border, who need access to nature for the peace and inspiration it provides — for all this, A2A is working to ensure that the natural heritage of the region continues to enrich the present and is secured to grace the future.

The following map indicates the approximate area in the A2A region.