Federal Decision Exposes Proposed National Wildlife Area to Mining

Toronto: November 3, 2010 – Merely months after indigenous groups asked the federal government to designate the Edéhzhíe (the Horn Plateau) in the Northwest Territories as a National Wildlife Area, the area is being exposed to potential mining activity. WWF-Canada is profoundly disappointed that the government’s interim protection for subsurface resources was allowed to expire October 31, before the area could be formally designated.

“The federal government’s decision will expose Edéhzhíe to mineral staking,” said Robert Powell, director of WWF-Canada’s Mackenzie River Basin. “This comes on the heels of the Dehcho First Nation and Tlicho Government formally requesting the area be protected.”

In 2002, the Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) of Environment Canada, a federal partner in the NWT Protected Area Strategy, agreed to be the PAS sponsoring agency, and to work toward creating the Edéhzhíe National Wildlife Area (NWA) through the Canada Wildlife Act.

The Dehcho First Nation wants to protect the natural and cultural values of Edéhzhíe because it is an area of traditional importance to them. They have worked with partners in the NWT Protected Areas Strategy, including WWF, for more than a decade to understand the area’s renewable and nonrenewable resources along with its cultural and ecological values.

“The government made a commitment to the NWT Protected Areas Strategy partners to protect candidate areas from potential development by having surface and subsurface interim protection until legislated protection is in place” adds Powell. “We need to know that that commitment, which is the foundation for conservation planning in the NWT, will be reaffirmed and subsurface protection restored at Edéhzhíe.”

Edéhzhíe is a special place northwest of Great Slave Lake. The plateau, 400 meters above surrounding boreal plains, figures prominently in Dene legends. In addition to being home to caribou and moose, its wetlands and waterways are an important part of the continental bird flyway.

For further information
Dr. Robert Powell, Director, Mackenzie River Basin
780-459-9453 (work)
780-902-7100 (cell)
[email protected]

Paulette Roberge, Communications
613-232-2504 (work)
613-297-1827 (cell)
[email protected]

Additional information
The proposed Edéhzhíe National Wildlife area was awaiting final designation. The negotiations around boundaries concluded earlier this year and the formal request to protect over 14,250 square kilometers was submitted to government in June 2010. The interim withdrawal expired October 31 before the national wildlife area could be designated officially.

Edéhzhíe, also known as the Horn Plateau, is an undulating plateau rising over 400 m over the surrounding boreal plains and lowlands. West of Great Slave Lake, it is one of the natural jewels in the Mackenzie Valley of the Northwest Territories. An area of cultural and ecological significance for the Dehcho and T³icho peoples, this area figures prominently in Dene legends. Wildlife such as caribou and moose are abundant, it has rich wetlands and is a continental bird flyway.

The NWT Protected Areas Strategy (PAS) is a process where Aboriginal communities propose new protected areas of ecological and cultural significance, with the participation of conservation organizations and industry. It is supported and enabled by both the federal and territorial governments. Since 2006, over 31 million acres in the NWT have been slated for protection through either the PAS or Parks Canada processes.