The Niagara Parks Commission has a mandated duty to protect, enhance and manage both cultivated and environmentally sensitive lands along the Niagara River corridor. The Park was created in 1885 by an Act of the Provincial Parliament of Ontario, to preserve and enhance lands adjacent to Niagara Falls. From its beginning with a small parcel of land at Niagara Falls, the Park has grown to a comprehensive system of more than 1720 hectares (over 4250 acres) along 56 kilometers (35 miles) of the Canadian side of the Niagara River.
This "ribbon of green" contains many jewels such as the Niagara Parks Botanical Gardens, old growth forest, sensitive riparian habitat and culturally significant heritage gardens. Niagara Parks is proud of recent partnerships which have fostered the development of a Natural Heritage Resources Management Policy, Inventory and Plan as well as a vibrant ecological restoration program supporting these lands and as well as our mandate in perpetuity for the benefit of today's and future generations.
The 40 hectare (99 acre) Niagara Parks Botanical Gardens has developed from the inception of the Niagara Parks School of Horticulture in 1936. At the Botanical Gardens, both live plant collections and a herbarium collection (pressed plant) are used along with associated policies, for education (as a campus for the Niagara Parks School of Horticulture and for the general public), as a visitor attraction (the world famous Niagara Parks' gardens are a tourist destination) and to support scientific research including preservation of the environment.
As you scroll through our pages we hope you will be inspired to visit us here in Ontario, Canada, to enjoy and support some of the most magnificent natural and cultural landscapes in the world. Niagara Parks are entirely self-funded and every purchase made by visitors to our properties helps to preserve this heritage.