Southwestern Ont. home to globally-important freshwater biodiversity areas: new report

Southwestern Ontario is a hotbed of globally-important biodiversity, according to a new report from an international group of conservation scientists.

The report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature lists Canada's "freshwater key biodiversity areas" or KBAs. Of the four KBAs in Ontario, three are in the southwestern part of the province: eastern Lake St. Clair, the east Sydenham River, and the Ausable River.

"Key biodiversity areas are part of an international effort to identify places around the world that are important for protecting nature," explained Dan Kraus, senior conservation biologist with the Nature Conservancy of Canada and one of the co-authors of the report.

The areas in the report contain species that are rare on a global level, such as ligumia nasuta, a type of mussel that is found in Lake St. Clair.

"These are really species that, what we do in Canada is going to decide if they become extinct or not in the future," Kraus explained.

While the areas highlighted by the report are already recognized as important by the conservation community, Kraus says the KBA designation adds a global "pedigree."

"Sometimes ... we don't really appreciate how important conservation in Canada is from a global perspective," he said. "But here are three places where it's really kind of our piece of the global conservation puzzle to solve."

Kraus spoke to Afternoon Drive guest host Emm Gryner about the report Friday. Tap to hear their conversation.