Media Centre

Press Releases

2007

Canada Initiates a New Era in Conservation

November 22, 2007 - Ottawa

Yesterday’s interim land withdrawal announcement by the Government of Canada and several First Nations – protecting more than 10 million hectares in the Northwest Territories – was one of the most significant land decisions in Canadian history, and the Canadian Boreal Initiative (CBI) hopes people around the world recognize it as signalling a new era in conservation thinking.

“This was a landmark decision – in more ways than one,” said CBI Executive Director Larry Innes. “By putting conservation first, Canada is taking a leadership role in ensuring a balanced approach to land development, unlike anything we’ve ever seen before.”

The areas protected include:

• 1.5 million hectares designated for a future national wildlife area along the Mackenzie River near the town of Fort Good Hope under the Northwest Territories Protected Area Strategy;
• 3.3 million hectares identified for a new national park (2.6 million acres of new protection) on the East Arm of Great Slave Lake, and
• 6 million hectares of priority lands between the new park and an existing wildlife refuge to be managed for conservation and appropriate development by the Akaitcho First Nations under a pending treaty agreement;

These lands will be permanently protected from development as management plans and final agreements are completed. Final designations for each area will follow within the next five years. These land withdrawals have been put forward by Aboriginal communities, with the support of the federal and territorial governments.

“Given that Canada’s vital Boreal region is increasingly under stress, taking action to protect it will have globally significant outcomes,” Innes said. “Canada is taking a leadership role in protecting large, intact ecosystems from development, and on a scale unlike anything we’ve ever seen before.”

With attention focused on the Arctic and climate change, the timing couldn’t be better to act to protect these sensitive Northern ecosystems, said Steve Kallick, director of the International Boreal Conservation Campaign at the Pew Environment Group.

“Earlier this year 1,500 scientists from around the globe identified Canada’s Boreal as deeply threatened and a top conservation priority. They recommended protecting at least 50% of the entire 1.5 billion acre forest. We’re thrilled to see Canada’s government listening to scientists and acting on those recommendations. They are taking wilderness conservation to a whole new level,” Kallick said.

The Canadian Boreal Forest is the largest intact forest remaining on the planet, rivaling the Amazon in size and ecological importance. It stores more carbon than any other terrestrial ecosystem – more than twice as much carbon per hectare as tropical rainforests – and plays a vital role in climate regulation. It also teems with wildlife, including nesting grounds for billions of migratory songbirds and 40% of North America’s waterfowl. Canada’s Boreal is also home to some of the world’s largest remaining populations of grizzly and polar bears, wolves, woodland and barren-ground caribou.

“This decision is also significant in that it demonstrates that government is committed to working with Aboriginal and Northern communities and a broad range of stakeholders to find the balance between environmental and cultural protection and responsible development,” Innes said.

“It may seem like an obvious way to sequence conservation and development, but it rarely happens that way. Generally, development proposals come first, and once development is underway, it’s often too late to think about large-scale conservation — the discussion quickly becomes about trade-offs and mitigation,” he said. “This finally gets the sequencing right.”

The measures support efforts by Aboriginal communities – who specifically identified the land protected by yesterday’s announcement – to find their own balance between traditional and modern economies, while protecting important ecological, cultural and spiritual areas.

Based in Ottawa, the Canadian Boreal Initiative is a convener bringing together partners including governments, industry, First Nations, conservation groups, major retailers, financial institutions and scientists to create new solutions for the conservation and sustainable development of the Boreal Forest.

CBI is part of an international boreal conservation campaign organized by the Pew Charitable Trusts’ Environment Group.

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Areas Protected

Ts’ude niline Tu’eyeta/Ramparts candidate National Wildlife Area: 15,087 km2 or 3,728,078 acres

The future Ts’ude niline Tu’eyeta/Ramparts National Wildlife Area is being advanced under the Northwest Territories Protected Area Strategy to maintain the culture and way of life of local Sahtu Dene First Nation communities, and to protect some of the most important wetlands and waterfowl habitat in Canada’s vast Boreal Forest. This area is located approximately 800 km northwest of Yellowknife, NWT at the Arctic Circle. Protecting this area of Canada’s Boreal Forest will help maintain biodiversity, cultural values, and ecological goods and services.

East Arm of the Great Slave Lake National Park Area of Interest: 2.6 million ha/6.5 million acres. 728,000 ha/1.8 million acres were previously reserved, bringing the total area of 3.4 million ha/8.3 million acres.

Thaydene Nene, the Lands of the Ancestors, is the Dene name for the proposed national park in surrounding the East Arm of Great Slave Lake. Work to establish the new national park is being led by the Lutsel K’e Dene First Nation and Parks Canada, supported by national conservation organizations. The creation of the park will insure that the integrity of the Lutsel K’e Dene’s culture and traditional territory – in Canada’s Boreal Forest – and the tremendous fish and wildlife habitat of the area will be preserved.

Akaitcho Land Withdrawals: 6.2 million ha/15.3 million acres protected

As part of negotiations towards a modern treaty settlement agreement, the Akaitcho First Nations have selected these ecologically and culturally important lands. They intend these lands to be conserved and managed under tribal direction to achieve environmental protection and sustainable development objective. The Akaitcho have a high level of concern about the impacts of uranium exploration and diamond mining activities in their traditional territory.