North America’s Laurentian Great Lakes truly are great. These “inland seas” represent the world’s largest freshwater ecosystem, with over 21% of the earth’s surface freshwater. And yet for all their importance these lakes have suffered much. Climate change, invasive species, contaminants and habitat loss are just some of the stresses that have profoundly impacted and altered them.

It is a challenging context for conservation, and accordingly, protected area agencies and partners across the lakes have sought ways to strengthen and enhance the effectiveness of their efforts. To this end, the Great Lakes Protected Areas Network (GLPAN) was established to improve communication and facilitate collaboration at the binational (Canada-United States) scale. One outcome of this partnership has been better profile and awareness of protected and conserved areas on other binational platforms, most notably the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement.