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Expanding Nahanni national park reserve to protect the entire South Nahanni Watershed

Why Now?

The opportunity exists now to protect this important wilderness because:

• The Dehcho First Nations support protection of the entire watershed in an expanded national park;
• The Sahtu region released a draft land use plan in 2003 that includes a conservation area in the upper 20% of the watershed. The community of Tulita passed a resolution supporting permanent protection of their portion of the watershed in January, 2004;
• In October, 2002, the federal government committed to an expansion of Nahanni National Park Reserve as part of a five year action plan for Parks Canada.
• First Nations, conservation groups, and thousands of Canadians support protection of the entire South Nahanni Watershed.

What's currently protected?

• Only 1/7 (14%) of the South Nahanni Watershed (4766 sq km) is permanently protected in the current national park reserve.
• An additional 54% of the watershed is under interim protection for five years as part of the land and self governance negotiations between the Dehcho First Nations and the Government of Canada.

What's left out?

• Under current plans, 15% of the South Nahanni Watershed (within the Dehcho Territory) are excluded from any plans for protection, leaving the protected lands downstream vulnerable to industrial development.
• The 20% of the South Nahanni Watershed within the Sahtu region currently has no protection

What are the threats?

Mining activity within the watershed is the single greatest threat to the ecological integrity of Nahanni National Park Reserve. Mining and mining infrastructure in the South Nahanni Watershed:

• threaten pristine surface and groundwater quality due to potential contamination with mine effluent and other toxic chemicals;
• fragment and destroy wildlife habitat and threaten healthy wildlife populations through development of roads and other access corridors;
• destroy the wilderness values of this world-renowned region.

Mining in the watershed

• The Cantung Mine site is located on the Flat River, upstream from the park. The mine closed in December 2003 for economic reasons. Monitoring and clean-up of the site are needed;
• Canadian Zinc, a junior mining company, is pushing to open a base metal mine on the shores of Prairie Creek, just north of the park. Mine infrastructure has existed for over 20 years, but the mine
• has never operated. The federal government needs to stop the project and ensure the site is cleaned up;
• Mineral staking continues within parts of the watershed. An immediate interim land withdrawal of the remaining unprotected parts of the watershed would secure these areas while permanent protection is put in place.

What we need to do:

The federal government should work with First Nations to immediately protect all of the magnificent South Nahanni Watershed, including the Nahanni karstlands.

About this Opportunity

The federal government has the opportunity to expand Nahanni National Park Reserve to include the entire South Nahanni Watershed. Located in the Northwest Territories, Nahanni National Park Reserve was created by the government of the late Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in 1976. In 1978, the park was designated as the first UNESCO natural World Heritage Site.

The proposal to protect the entire watershed is supported by:

• the aboriginal people in the region which include the Dehcho First Nations as well as the Tulita Dene Band in the Sahtu;
• national and regional conservation groups and thousands of Canadians who have written in support of this proposal;
• the federal government's Action Plan on National Parks, which includes an expansion of Nahanni, although precise boundaries are not specified.
• Protecting the entire South Nahanni Watershed as a national park will:
• Secure core habitat for woodland caribou, grizzly bears, Dall's sheep and mountain goats, whose home ranges extend far outside current park boundaries;
• Protect human and ecological health by ensuring clean water for the downstream community and ecosystems;
• Secure a large core protected area of boreal forest - a key conservation priority for Canada
• Protect core habitat in the northern end of the Yellowstone to Yukon region, a key international conservation effort;
• Protect globally significant geological formations - the Nahanni limestone karstlands;
• Secure for all time the wilderness values of the first UNESCO World Heritage Site;
• Be a world-class conservation achievement by creating one of the largest forest national parks on Earth.

For more information:

Alison Woodley, CPAWS National Office
(613) 569-7226 ext 227
www.cpaws.org/nahanni

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