WINNIPEG—International recognition for the Indigenous cultural and boreal ecosystem values of a large tract of forest straddling the Ontario-Manitoba boundary has moved closer as a result of recommendations from two key groups.
A decision is expected from UNESCO's World Heritage Committee in late June or early July.
For over a decade, a partnership of four First Nations and the Manitoba and Ontario governments has worked with the federal government toward the goal of World Heritage designation for Pimachiowin Aki, a 29,000 square kilometre area located in what would have been the centre of glacial Lake Agassiz.
It comprises the traditional lands of several Anishinaabe communities as well as adjacent protected areas including Ontario's Woodland Caribou Provincial Park.
Pimachiowin Aki is Ojibwe for "the land that gives life."
The International Council on Monuments and Sites, and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, recently announced their recommendations to declare Pimachiowin Aki a World Heritage Site. Both organizations are advisory bodies to the World Heritage Committee.
"We very much appreciate the support we have received from the governments of Manitoba, Ontario and Canada," said William Young of the Bloodvein First Nation and spokesperson for Pimachiowin Aki. "We respect the process but remain optimistic that the recommendations will be accepted."
There are currently 18 World Heritage Cultural Sites and Natural Sites in Canada, such as Nahanni National Park in Yukon and Lunenberg, Nova Scotia's Old Town.
Pimachiowin Aki would be Canada's first designated "mixed" cultural and natural site.
On its website, UNESCO states that the prestige that comes with the recognition of a site can help to raise awareness among citizens and governments for heritage preservation. It says "Greater awareness leads to a general rise in the level of the protection and conservation given to heritage properties. A country may also receive financial assistance and expert advice from the World Heritage Committee to support activities for the preservation of its sites."
