Area Guide For Ottawa

The City of Ottawa is more than 2800 km2 in size, most of which lies in the rural area (City of Ottawa 2011).  Approximately 1000 km2 is forested, covered by wetland, or otherwise natural.  If ranked in size against Canada’s National Parks, the natural area of Ottawa would rank 25th out of the 43 parks, roughly the same size as Grasslands National Park.  Furthermore, Ottawa’s natural areas remain well-embedded in a broader natural landscape that includes Gatineau Park, the Ottawa Valley and the continentally-significant Algonquin-to-Adirondack landscape corridor.   All of these factors contribute to an abundance and high diversity of wildlife, including 52 species at risk identified to date.  In fact, as the City’s forests have matured and grown over recent decades, Ottawa has experienced the return of wildlife species long absent from the landscape, including moose, fisher, pine marten and even the occasional wolf.