UNESCO report on Wood Buffalo National Park shows urgent need to fix problems, First Nation says | 24CA News

A report from a United Nations physique on environmental threats to Canada’s largest nationwide park reveals the urgency of the issues, says a spokesperson for the First Nation that initially introduced considerations about Wood Buffalo National Park to UNESCO.

The doc, launched final week and the most recent in collection of examinations of the park on the Alberta-Northwest Territories boundary, reaffirms threats from dams, oilsands growth and local weather change.

Melody Lepine of the Mikisew Cree First Nation says the report is clearer than ever about what must be executed, and when, to maintain the park in good environmental well being.

“I think the experts recognized the sense of urgency is now,” she stated Wednesday.

The Mikisew Cree introduced considerations about Wood Buffalo, a World Heritage web site, earlier than UNESCO nearly a decade in the past.

The park’s conventional customers noticed water ranges within the park dropping yr after yr, which they felt was as a result of of British Columbia’s upstream Bennett Dam. They additionally feared rising oilsands tailing ponds posed a threat to water high quality.

UNESCO responded to these considerations in 2016, when an investigation discovered these fears properly grounded. Ottawa developed an $87-million plan to raised handle and monitor water within the park.

The new report is an evaluation of how properly that plan is working. It concludes there is no have to take away the park’s World Heritage standing right now and praises lots of the plan’s initiatives, such because the creation of wildland buffer zones.

But of 14 goals for the park, UNESCO says solely two are enhancing, with 5 steady and 7 deteriorating.

Five of its 17 suggestions pertain to the oilsands, together with a name for a threat evaluation of tailings ponds, reform to environmental monitoring, plans to reclaim the ponds that do not threaten the park and reviewing new initiatives in mild of what is already been developed.

Although most of its suggestions have been made earlier than, the brand new report suggests timelines. The threat evaluation must be executed by the tip of subsequent yr; tailings reclamation plans must be full earlier than 2026; and land use plans must be “expedited.”

Lepine stated these deadlines are the results of a go to the UNESCO workforce made to Fort Chipewyan, a neighborhood on the park’s boundary.

“They heard that urgency when they visited Fort Chipewyan. We are so worried.”

Lepine stated considerations are even stronger after releases of oilsands wastewater from Imperial Oil’s Kearl web site 70 kilometres north of Fort McMurray.

“The Kearl incident really shed light on the importance of managing the tailings ponds, getting them cleaned up.”

Gillian Chow-Fraser of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society agreed the brand new report is harder.

“It’s much more robust in its drilling into oilsands management, really calling for much more specific and larger actions to improve tailings management.”

Kendall Dilling of Pathways Alliance, a bunch of all main oilsands producers, stated its members “treasure Wood Buffalo National Park and the rich variety of life it supports.”

In an announcement, Dilling stated business efforts to handle its environmental footprint are unprecedented and identified the wildland buffer across the park was achieved after oilsands corporations surrendered leases within the space.

“We will continue to build on a decades-long track record of meaningful engagement with Indigenous groups on all aspects of our operations and environmental performance.”

He didn’t reply to particular questions on threat evaluation, monitoring or tailings administration.

Alberta Environment and Parks spokesperson Benji Smith stated the province is reviewing the report as it really works towards reclaiming the oilsands. He stated no tailings can be launched with out rigorous research.

“Work is underway to determine if, and how, oilsands mine water could safely be released at some point in the future,” he stated in an e-mail.

“Oilsands mine waters will not be approved for release until we can definitively demonstrate … that it can be done safely and that strict regulatory processes are in place to ensure the protection of human and ecological health.”

Progress has been made, Parks Canada says

Parks Canada launched an announcement welcoming the UNESCO report.

“The report acknowledges that important progress has been made in the implementation of the action plan,” it stated. “The government of Canada has been working in close collaboration with partners to advance research, ecological monitoring and ecological restoration projects throughout the park.”

It didn’t reply to any of the report’s suggestions, which embrace a name for additional funding to enhance water ranges. Ottawa’s funding program for Wood Buffalo ends this yr.

Lepine stated though a lot of UNESCO’s suggestions have been ignored, it has nonetheless been worthwhile to contain the group.

Some progress has been made, she stated. And the threats to Wood Buffalo at the moment are being taken severely.

“We really showed the world, we showed Canada, that our concerns were real and substantive.”