The wetland contains diverse habitats, but is largely a seasonally flooded river mouth marsh feed by multiple creeks, dominated by Spencer Creek. It is a surrounded by steep oak forested hills with multiple low areas, associated with the main river deltas providing landings and access to the water. It has provided food for people and habitat to a wide variety of lifeforms that span international borders. The habitat went into decline beginning in the late 19th century as a result of water pollution, human overuse, canal dredging, highway building, and the introduction of carp into Lake Ontario. Original habitat protection is tied to the Hamilton Bird Protection society, and a developer that settled with the city of Hamilton for owed taxes for a large block on the south side of Cootes Paradise. This formed the foundation of public property, that were set aside as part of a much larger large Crown Game Preserve in 1927 (~2900 acres). The remnants of the 1927 crown game preserve were placed under the control of the Royal Botanical Gardens for management with its formation in 1941, with the Gardens' reacquiring many of the original crown game preserve lands over the decades.