Possible New Cdn World Heritage Site

Possible New Cdn World Heritage Site



Feb 2007 - Four First 
Nations and the governments of Manitoba and Ontario have 
established a non-profit corporation as part of their goal to 
achieve international recognition as a UNESCO World Heritage 
Site for lands east of Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba and in 
northwestern Ontario. 
The area under consideration covers about 42,000 square 
kilometers (16,216 square miles) and would be called the 
Pimachiowin-Aki World Heritage Site. 
It includes the traditional territories of the Poplar River, 
Little Grand Rapids, Paunigassi and Pikangikum First Nations 
and includes Atikaki Provincial Park in Manitoba and Woodland 
Caribou Provincial Park in Ontario. 
"The area would be protected as an Anishinabe cultural 
landscape," said Chief Russell Lambert from Poplar River First 
Nation on behalf of the four First Nations. 
Chief Russell Lambert of the Poplar River Nation confers with 
Cathy Wilkinson, director of the Canadian Boreal Initiative. 

"This will ensure that the Anishinabe who live there benefit 
from sustainable economic activities that support their 
survival as a people, increase their well-being and maintain 
the ecological health of the land," he said. 
Manitoba Conservation Minister Stan Struthers said the 
province will provide C$130,000 to support efforts to gain 
recognition for the Pimachiowin-Aki World Heritage Site. 
"I am excited about the work of this partnership and 
appreciate the strong First Nations leadership. Gaining 
international recognition for this globally significant boreal 
forest will also generate jobs, tourism and suitable 
developments that will help all Canadians enjoy this area," 
said Struthers. 
"This is a precedent-setting agreement to work for the 
designation of an internationally important boreal area as a 
World Heritage Site," said Ontario Natural Resources Minister 
David Ramsay. 
"It will bring both economic benefits to remote First Nation 
communities and ensure the environmental protection of a 
tremendously valuable ecosystem," Ramsay said. 
The Bloodvein River runs through Manitoba's Atikaki Provincial 
Park 
The project has generated international interest because the 
site would fill an identified gap in the World Heritage Site 
system of protected areas, and because it proposes an 
innovative approach to land management that combines 
traditional Anishinabe and western scientific knowledge. 
The site combines natural and cultural features. 
It has extensive undisturbed forests, lakes, and wetlands that 
reflect unique geological processes and represent critical 
habitat for threatened or endangered species such as woodland 
caribou, bald eagles and wolverines. 
The site also represents an outstanding example of traditional 
Aboriginal life based on a close and enduring relationship to 
the land. Archeological evidence in the area attests to over 
6,000 years of habitation by the Anishinabe people. 
Petroglyph in Ontario's Woodland Caribou Provincial Park 

The nomination process will take three to five years to 
complete. It will produce community based land use plans, a 
network of linked protected areas and an innovative management 
system that combines western and indigenous knowledge. 
If this nomination is successful, Pimachiowin-Aki would be one 
of only a handful of sites on the World Heritage List that are 
recognized for both outstanding cultural and natural heritage 
values. 
"This is an area of significant cultural and natural value," 
said Struthers. "It is a living cultural landscape for First 
Nations people who have lived there for thousands of years. It 
also has a wealth of forests, lakes and habitat for threatened 
and endangered species such as the woodland caribou and we 
support every effort to have UNESCO recognize the site." 
The UNESCO World Heritage List was established through an 
international effort to identify and protect sites of 
universally outstanding value so that they would survive for 
the benefit of all humanity.

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