A rare idea

Mission Statement:

"To create a self-sustaining model of preservation, conservation and enhancement techniques which stimulates a general awareness of our natural heritage."



Founded in 2001, the rare Charitable Research Reserve exists to preserve, intact in perpetuity, a 913-acre (and growing!) land reserve along the Grand and Speed Rivers.  It is not only a beautiful cultural landscape in one of the fastest growing areas of the country but includes trees more than 230 years old and provides over 24 habitat types – including 6 of 8 pre-settlement landscapes - that are home to a diversity of organisms some of which are species at risk regionally, provincially, nationally and globally. Located within the designated Blair-Bechtel-Cruickston Environmentally Sensitive Landscape, rare ’s lands provide a natural laboratory for scientific study, research-based education programs, archaeology and trails. Together we are stewards of this magnificent natural jewel, striving to protect it because of its role in our lives, economies, and even our survival.  Our goal is to preserve the land for future generations by focusing on research, education, conservation, and ecological restoration. 

The land here presents a unique opportunity to understand our environment – its role in our lives, our economies, and even our survival. In the midst of the one of the fastest growing areas of the country, the site provides a rare account of natural and human histories, with archaeological finds going back more than 9,000 years; it teems with species, provides insight into early agricultural practices and is a source of unaltered genetic information.





Our Key Objectives

-To preserve, protect, restore and improve the natural resources and environment of lands in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo (“Region”)

-To encourage, promote and foster an understanding and awareness of the Region’s natural resources, history and environment and their value in enhancing the public’s quality of life.

-To conduct research, seminars, interpretive activities, conferences and public forums about the flora, fauna, agricultural practices, hydrology and geology of the Region.

-To preserve, protect, enhance and expand wildlife habitat in the Region.

-To promote the advancement of education in the Region and at Ontario institutions of higher education.

-To purchase, maintain and preserve historical buildings and archaeological sites in the Region and to display such buildings and any artefacts which are discovered to the public.

The Purpose

The objective of rare is to preserve, in perpetuity, an environmentally invaluable landscape, while providing an unequalled research site that forms the basis of education programs in disciplines as diverse as restoration ecology, conservation biology, hydrology, organic gardening, and archaeology, to name only a few. Its trail system and workshops provide important recreation and leisure opportunities for the entire community.

In order to address all areas of the property and what our environmental experts would like to see happen, we have created an environmental managment plan. To view it click here.



What is in the Reserve?

The reserve hosts natural, agricultural and cultural habitats; upland and lowland deciduous forests including old growth and replacement woods, as well as conifer plantations; floodplain and upland cropland; old field succession and shrub thickets; limestone alvars, cliffs and escarpments (identical to those of the Niagara Escarpment which holds a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve designation); and, river shorelines, coldwater streams and wetlands. It is not only home to the confluence of the Grand and the Speed Rivers – both Canadian Heritage Rivers – it is also where the forests of the Northern Hardwoods and Carolinian zones meet. Because it has had very few owners, six of the eight pre-settlement landscapes are still present. For more information click here and be directed to "The Natural Environment" section of our website.