The preservation of natural areas and built heritage helps to maintain the character of Muskoka.  From a purely economic point of view, this helps to maintain the things that draw people to the area, helping to maintain tourism, which is the most important industry in the area.

The protection of ecologically significant land also:

• protects wetlands, which is habitat required by many species, including threatened species like the Blandings turtle.  The protection of wetlands also protects our water quality.
• protects areas of high biodiversity, which helps mitigate the effects of climate change.
• protects shoreline, which helps to protect water quality.  It also maintains some undeveloped  shoreline which maintains the Muskoka experience and increases the value of surrounding properties.
• protects large natural areas or an area that connects two natural areas, which helps to combat fragmentation of habitat, which threatens many species, particularly those requiring large territories.