Recognizing the Salish Sea’s world heritage
The city of Victoria believes the Salish Sea is of such outstanding universal value that it deserves to be recognized as a World Heritage Site, right up there with Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, the Galapagos Islands and the Great Wall of China.
Unanimously, city council reached for the gold ring. Councillors considered our shared heritage, the 10,000-year-old culture of the indigenous peoples, the 3,000 species, the orcas and humpback whales, the Pacific Flyway, salmon and shellfish, rocky shores and beaches … and all that natural beauty that finds each and every one of us in awe some time in our life.
Just gaze out over these salty waters and try not to think about life, our time on this blue planet, the stars and the universe.
“It is our medicine, it is our life,” says Snuneymux’w elder Geraldine Manson. “From the mountains to the rivers to the oceans, all these are connected. And each individual who is on earth today is responsible for understanding what that means.”
Then too, Victoria’s mayor and council pondered the economic benefits, the new businesses that would prosper and the increased tourism potential associated with UNESCO World Heritage Sites. This brand carries a lot of weight and interest in international circles.
The prestige and protections afforded by way of a World Heritage Site designation places us with the best of the best. Here where sleek yachts sail among fishing boats and freighters, kayakers and paddlers mix with the jet-set and mingle with the outboard motors.
“It is the richest marine habitat in the world,” according to Paul Nicklen, SeaLegacy’s cofounder and National Geographic photographer with a worldwide following, who just happens to live up-Island.
Beach strollers and landlubbers can claim the intertidal, enjoying the prolific comeback and revitalization along bays and islets. Nature’s resilience is not to be denied, and Salish Sea sentinels such as Takaya, the lone wolf of Chatham Island, watch and wait for the chance to regain the balance we once knew.
Every 10 years or so, the prime minister invites World Heritage Site nominations, and this year is our chance.
As we shape our environment, so are we shaped. The interaction and relationships we have here reflect humankind’s highest aspirations and cultural achievements. The Salish Sea is that rare example of our nature, what brings out the best in us and the world around us.
The first people of the Salish Sea lived in balance, enjoyed and were nurtured by these waters and nature’s bounty. Our European heritage, commanding dominion over nature, too often overlooked the foundations of our wealth and prosperity.
Perhaps the time has come then, here and now, for respect between cultures and with nature. The embrace of economic imperatives inherent in our modern world does not preclude cooperation and partnership, reconciliation and healing. It is rather strengthened and emboldened by the joys and pleasures of working together for common goals, the betterment of our own lives, as well as the legacy of humankind.
All of this within Coun. Ben Isitt’s motion. The question, would the mayor write the federal minister of environment, supporting the proposed nomination of the Salish Sea as a UNESCO World Heritage Site?
And council rose to the occasion, recognized the possibility of aspiring to the outstanding universal values that our society holds dear. The cultural and natural protections, the health and biodiversity and habitat that we enjoy, and the economic benefits that accrue when a World Heritage Site is recognized, were all supported.
As gatekeepers of the Salish Sea, invested with responsibilities and a sense of duty for the betterment of all, the council of the city of Victoria spoke up for the 3.5 million of us who live along the shores and reaches of this unique inner ocean. And for all Canadians across the country.
Like B.C.’s north coast with its marine-area protection plan, and the mid-coast’s Great Bear Rainforest, it was time to stand up for the Salish Sea and recognize it as a gift to the world.
The process for designating a World Heritage Site will require everyone’s agreement, and can take up to 10 years. There’ll be time for us all to get to know each other. With this step, however, we have begun an incredible journey, one that gives us all a chance to leave a legacy, that all the world will enjoy and benefit from.