The Land Between

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Known as an "ecotone", The Land Between is a liminal space between the Canadian Shield and the St. Lawrence Lowlands. It is home to a host of overlapping species from the north and the south, which has encouraged sharing between First Nations cultures for thousands of years. But European settlers couldn't figure out what to do with its incredibly diverse patchwork of rock barrens, rivers, lakes and marshlands. It was not until the Victorian fascination with "wilderness" that The Land Between found a place in the collective psyche of Canadians - when people gave parts of it names like "Muskoka" and "The Kawarthas." And it's only recently that recreational use and urban resource needs have placed this biologically diverse region under threat.