UN eyeing impact of oilsands on national park

EDMONTON— The UNESCO World Heritage Committee has asked Canada to invite a team to Alberta to study how the oilsands and other nearby projects will affect Wood Buffalo National Park.

The UN committee’s request follows a petition by the Mikisew Cree First Nation in December that asked for the park to be added to a list of world heritage sites in danger.

After asking Ottawa for responses to the First Nation’s concerns, the committee has made several recommendations.

It says it wants the government to invite a joint team from the World Heritage Centre and the International Union for Conservation of Nature to review the impact of the oilsands, a proposed open-pit mine and the proposed Site C Dam in B.C. on the park.

It also asks the government to conduct an environmental assessment that takes into account the potential cumulative impacts of all developments on the value of the park. Wood Buffalo has been a UNESCO World Heritage site for more than 30 years and is noted for having the largest population of wild bison, as well as for being the natural nesting place of the whooping crane.

“We thank the World Heritage Committee for taking Mikisew’s concerns seriously in today’s decision,” Mikisew Chief Steve Courtoreille said Wednesday in a news release following the committee’s decision.

“We are deeply concerned about the existing impact of industrial activity and climate change on the Wood Buffalo National Park and the new threats posed by megaprojects upstream of the Peace-Athabasca Delta.”

Parks Canada responded in a letter earlier this year to the World Heritage Centre that the case for a danger listing was “overstated.”