Ecosystem Charter for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Basin
as publicly released on October 25, 1994

Introduction
The Ecosystem Charter for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Basin is a landmark document for the ecosystem approach, both regionally and globally. A letter from former Great Lakes Commission Chair Patrick Ralston presents the Charter to GLIN users. The Charter's Preamble introduces the document, provides a background on the Charter's impetus and development, and describes its purposes and implications for Charter signatories. The Charter presents a shared vision for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Basin, along with a series of commonly held principles, findings and action items to guide ecosystem management in the Basin as that vision is pursued.

Publicly released on October 25, 1994, the Ecosystem Charter ties a common thread through the many policies, laws and agreements in the basin, and explicitly defines objectives for an ecosystem approach to management. A living document, the Ecosystem Charter will be periodically updated. Terms used in the Charter are defined in the Charter glossary. The Charter addendum lists all signatories to date. A fact sheet answers commonly asked questions about the Ecosystem Charter.

October 1995 marks the one-year anniversary (text-only) of the public release of the Ecosystem Charter. Efforts to use and implement the Charter are presented in a series of statements by signatories and others who have used and benefitted from the Charter.

As of December 1995, more than 160 agencies, businesses and organizations have endorsed the Ecosystem Charter. You are encouraged to join them in becoming a Charter signatory by completing the Signatory Response Form.