Alberta First Nation petitions UNESCO to add park to endangered heritage sites
- EFN Staff | December 11, 2014
The Mikisew Cree First Nation is asking UNESCO to place Wood
Buffalo National Park on its List of World Heritage Sites in Danger due to growing
threats from hydro-electric developments and oil and gas activities. The
Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) and other concerned groups are
supporting the petition.
Wood Buffalo National Park was placed on UNESCO's Natural World Heritage List
in 1983 because it contains the largest freshwater boreal delta in the world: the Peace-Athabasca. However, hydro-electric damming along the Peace River in
British Columbia and oil sands activities along the Athabasca River in Alberta
have significantly reduced the flow of water to the delta, affecting migratory
bird populations in the delta and the health of fish populations in the Lake
Athabasca area.
"We are already deeply concerned about the impact of industrial activity
on our traditional lands within the Peace-Athabasca Delta in Wood Buffalo
National Park. Those threats are growing with the proposed Site C dam and oil
sands expansion. We are using every possible means before it is too late to
save the land that has supported our people for millennia," says Mikisew
Chief Steve Courtoreille.
Scientists say climate change is also contributing to changes to the
Peace-Athabasca water flows and levels. The Mikisew Cree and others are
concerned that two proposed projects, the Site C Dam in B.C. and the Frontier
Oil Sands Mine near Wood Buffalo National Park in Alberta, would further
exacerbate these problems.
UNESCO's List of World Heritage Sites in Danger alerts the international
community to conditions that threaten the characteristics of a site that
justified its placement on the World Heritage List, and is designed to
encourage corrective action.
Alison Ronson, Executive Director of CPAWS' Northern Alberta Chapter, says that
petitioning UNESCO should encourage all levels of government to provide greater
protection to Wood Buffalo National Park.
"The Government of Alberta and the federal government need to create a
buffer area of protection around the park. It should be informed by scientific
studies that assess the impact of industrial activity and climate change on the
park and its wildlife," says Ronson.
Including a site on the List of World Heritage in Danger requires the World
Heritage Committee to develop and adopt, in consultation with the State Party
concerned, a programme for corrective measures and ongoing monitoring of the
site.
The Mikisew Cree First Nation hope that this petition will improve the
prospects for Wood Buffalo National Park - Canada's largest park - and the only
place on earth where the predator-prey relationship between wolves and wood
bison has continued unbroken over time.
Visit our home page for more top news stories.