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 Celebrate some Escarpment Birthdays with us!

Happy 35th CONE! ~ Happy 40th NEC! ~  Happy 50th Iroquoia Bruce Trail Club! ~ Happy 55th HCA! 
Help us raise funds for Centre improvements and new programs!
Enjoy a sunset over the "Giant's Rib" on the doorstep of the Eco Park and C2E lands!

click to enlarge

 Coming Saturday June 1, 2013!

**NEW**

Interpretive Hike Program

Click to enlarge

BruceDuncan
Memorial Lecture Series
All lectures will be
now held at the former
Parks Canada Discovery Centre
now administered by the
Hamilton Waterfront Trust

The 9thSeries
2012- 2013
Memorial Lecture Series Schedule
57Discovery Drive Hamilton, ON


The Giant's Rib Discovery Centre is a not-for-profit organization created to tell the story of the Niagara Escarpment; to promote uses that will ensure retention of its natural state for future generations. We offer public educational lectures and tours to interpret the Niagara Escarpment through geographical, geological, historical, agricultural, and cultural experiences.

Lookingfor Information
about the
Niagara Escarpment ?

Reference Library
Bibliographies
Environmental Protection
Biology
Geology

ClickHere
for our list
Research Bibliographies


Check out our Facebook page for the latest news
and all the new photos from the Giant's Rib !!
 
 

Want to help protect out Niagara Escarpment World Biosphere reserve?

Volunteer Positions Available

 
 
 
Please contact us if you are interested in volunteering for the Giant's Rib!


Hello everyone!

Welcome to your latest Giant's Rib Newsletter! To view it click here.

Hello everyone! 

Welcome to your Giant's Rib Newsletter for April - with a special greeting to all our newest members!! 

Our lecture series has now concluded but there's some great upcoming events inside and some great Escarpment stories!
 

Details on these events - as well our regular features - are available in the attached latest edition of your Giant's Rib Newsletter!

Happy reading!

Sincerely,
Stan Nowak
Newsletter Editor
Giant's Rib Discovery Centre


Wish to subscribe to our newsletter?
Just sent us your name and email address





The Giant Rib Discovery Centre is presently located in The Dundas Valley Trail Centre, a replica of a Victorian train station, and the hub of the valley's trail network.

The Giant Rib Discovery Centre is staffed only on weekends .. the Trail Centre hours are below:

Off-season Hours:
Weekends: 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Summer Hours:
Weekends: 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Fee per vehicle: $9.00
This fee includes access to all trails for the day purchased.

Beginning in 2012, the walk-in and bicycle entry fee has been removed in the Dundas Valley. All visitors to the Dundas Valley are encouraged to purchase a HCA Annual Membership Pass to help support the maintenance and operational costs of the area. The HCA does not receive funding from the province of Ontario or the City of Hamilton for the operation of its conservation areas.

http://www.conservationhamilton.ca/dundas-valley

All admission rates and fees are subject to change. Prices include HST unless shown.


Have you ever wondered how the
Niagara Escarpment a.k.a
"The Giant's Rib" came to be ?
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Waterfall of the Month for May 2013 Lower Westcliffe


Lower Westcliffe Falls is located on a tributary of the West Chedoke Creek at the Chedoke Civic Golf Course in Hamilton. 

Lower Westcliffe Falls is considered a Complex Classic Cascade, with a Plunge section, type waterfall. This waterfall has year round flow, thus can be viewed at any time. Its total height is 9 m (30 ft.) and its width is 6 m (20 ft.).

This is the second waterfall on this branch of the West Chedoke Creek as the first waterfall is located approximately 75 m upstream of Lower Westcliffe Falls and is called Westcliffe Falls. 

In addition, Lower Westcliffe Falls is actually the west half of the Double Waterfall at the Chedoke Golf Course, with Lower Cliffview Falls being the east half of this Double Waterfall. The two waterfalls are located on two separate branches of the West Chedoke Creek which fall over the escarpment almost side by side, forming two separate waterfalls. At the bottom of these two waterfalls, the two creeks join together to become one creek.

To visit Lower Westcliffe Falls is fairly easy. From Hwy 403, take the Aberdeen Ave. exit, then travel for less than 1 km and turn right onto Studholme Rd. (towards the Chedoke Civic Golf Course), then turn left onto Beddoe Dr. and follow it to the golf course. Park in the parking lot. The waterfall is located west of the steel staircase (going up the Niagara Escarpment) and just west of Lower Cliffview Falls. It can be viewed through the chain link fence located beside the paved walkway west of the steel staircase.
 
 
 

By Joseph Hollick



THE NIAGARA  ESCARPMENT
WORLD BIOSPHERE RESERVE


The Directors of the Giant's Rib Discovery Centre form a Committee of the Niagara Escarpment World Biosphere Reserve. Their basic responsibilities are directed to helping  ensure that the Niagara Escarpment continues to meet the three basic criteria of a biosphere reserve:

Contribute to conservation of  landscapes, ecosystems, species and genetic variation;
Foster economic and human development which is socio-culturally and ecologically sustainable;
Provide support for research, monitoring, education and information exchange related to local national and global issues of conservation and development.

GIANT'S RIB RECEIVES RECOGNITION

Richard Murzin, President of the Canadian Biosphere Reserves Association, announced on Thursday, June 21, 2007 that the Giant's Rib Discovery Centre (GRDC) has been recognized as a local biosphere committee for the Niagara Escarpment Biosphere Reserve.

The Association considers that the Giant's Rib is already fulfilling many activities for the Niagara Escarpment, which reflect the Escarpment's designation as a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve. They are pleased to acknowledge this and to thank the GRDC for their support for research, education, training and encouragement for sustainable development related to the Niagara Escarpment.

A biosphere reserve draws its strength from active involvement and cooperation within a community of interest. The GRDC is exemplary in this regard and the Niagara Escarpment Biosphere Reserve is honoured to recognize the Giant's Rib Discovery Centre as a biosphere committee.

The UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Designation

The biosphere is all of the land, water and atmosphere that support life.
A biosphere reserve is an international designation of recognition from UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization)  for an area in the world which is deemed to demonstrate a balanced relationship between humans and the biosphere. By this is meant that collaborative efforts among people in the designated area serve to promote the sustainability of local economies and communities, as well as the conservation of the terrestrial/or coastal ecosystems they are in.

A biosphere reserve designation gives an area international recognition for the important ecological and cultural values in an area. It also provides a mechanism, based on local commitment and local ability, to apply sound stewardship (and protection, where necessary) to use of resources in an area to support present and future generations.

UNESCO named Ontario's Niagara Escarpment a world biosphere reserve in February 1990. Ontario's Niagara Escarpment is one of 16 reserves in Canada and is part of a network of 580 reserves in 114 countries.

The Niagara Escarpment Biosphere Reserve conserves the Province of Ontario's natural and social capital by protecting prime agricultural lands, forests, wetlands, heritage properties and recreational spaces.

Biosphere Reserves strive to conserve the diversity of plants, animals and micro- organisms which make up our living biosphere and maintain healthy natural systems while, at the same time meeting the material needs and aspirations of an increasing number of people. Before UNESCO designates a biosphere reserve, local people and organizations must have demonstrated their commitment to these principles.

CANADA'S BIOSPHERE RESERVES

The sixteen biosphere reserves in Canada are located in eight provinces, from the Atlantic to the Pacific coasts. They include a variety of ecosystems. In each one, activities are coordinated by a community- based organization or committee. Beginning with its first reserve in the 1970s, Canada's biosphere reserves were established as follows:

  • Mont St. Hilaire, Quebec (1978)
  • Waterton, Alberta (1979)
  • Long Point, Ontario(1986)
  • Riding Mountain, Manitoba (1986)
  • Charlevoix, Quebec (1988)
  • The Niagara Escarpment, Ontario (1990)
  • Clayoqot Sound, British Columbia (2000)
  • Lac Saint-Pierre, Quebec (2000)

  • Mount Arrowsmith, British Columbia (2000)
  • Redberry Lake, Saskatchewan (2000)
  • Southwest Nova, Nova Scotia (2001)
  • Frontenac Arch, Ontario (2002)
  • Georgian Bay Littoral, Ontario (2004)
  • Fundy, New Brunswick (2007)
  • Manicouagan-Uapishka, Quebec (2007)
  • Bras d,Or Lake, Nova Scotia (2011)


If you would like to support
the Giant's Rib Discovery Centre,
You can now donate through CanadaHelps.org

Click here for more information


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  TheGiant's RibDiscoveryCentre Box 1469, Waterdown, ON, L0R 2H0
Visit the Centre's displays and presentations at theTrail Centre,
Dundas Conservation 650 Governors Road Dundas Ontario
©www.giantsrib.ca 2013