Canada’s New Government announces the expansion of Nahanni National Park Reserve

Prime Minister Stephen Harper today announced a significant expansion of the boundaries of the Nahanni National Park Reserve.

“Canada is blessed with magnificent geography from coast to coast to coast, but none more spectacular than Nahanni Park,” said the Prime Minister. “Today’s announcement will ensure that more of this precious land, and the unique wildlife populations it sustains, will be protected for future generations.”

On his second consecutive summer tour of the North, Prime Minister Harper said the Nahanni Park expansion reflected the Government’s commitment to preserving the North’s ecological treasures. He noted that environmental protection is one of four main priorities in the Government’s Northern Agenda. The others are strengthening federal-territorial fiscal and jurisdictional relations, encouraging energy and mineral resources development, and asserting Canadian sovereignty in the Arctic.

The Prime Minister’s announcement allows for the protection of an additional 5,400 square kilometres of land within the Greater Nahanni Ecosystem. The land will now be withdrawn from any kind of further development. Protected areas include mineral hot springs, limestone formations with international geological significance, and important grizzly bear, woodland caribou and Dall’s sheep habitat.

The consultations, which will begin in the fall of 2007, will bring the Government together with the Dehcho First Nations and other stakeholders to determine land-use policies that will ensure the long-term protection of the park.
 
Nahanni National Park Reserve of Canada was designated as UNESCO's first World Heritage Site in 1978 and the section of the South Nahanni River within the Reserve that includes the renowned Virginia Falls was designated a Canadian Heritage River by the Canadian Heritage Rivers Board in 1987.