In the News

An Essential Step in Addressing and Adapting to Climate Change

Two Manitoba First Nations are stating their support for a resolution to protect more than 50% of Canada’s Boreal Region in a network of protected areas that allow for species to migrate and adapt to climate change. Last month, over 1500 scientists, conservationists, and concerned citizens from 51 countries around the globe passed the resolution in Merida, Mexico at the World Wilderness Congress. The resolution, proposed by the Manitoba chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS), calls for achieving this goal through First Nations community-based land-use planning including eco-system based resource management across the remaining landscape. “People from all over the world are joining the growing movement to safeguard the Boreal Region,” stated Ron Thiessen, Executive Director of CPAWS Manitoba. “Manitoba has the grand opportunity to become a Canadian leader by announcing a process that works with First Nations ...

By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL

COPENHAGEN — Negotiators have all but completed a sweeping deal that would compensate countries for preserving forests, and in some cases, other natural landscapes like peat soils, swamps and fields that play a crucial role in curbing climate change. Environmental groups have long advocated such a compensation program because forests are efficient absorbers of carbon dioxide, the primary heat-trapping gas linked to global warming. Rain forest destruction, which releases the carbon dioxide stored in trees, is estimated to account for 20 percent of greenhouse gas emissions globally. The agreement for the program, if signed as expected, may turn out to be the most significant achievement to come out of the Copenhagen climate talks, providing a system through which countries can be paid for conserving disappearing natural assets based on their contribution to reducing emissions. A final draft of the agreement for the compensation program, called Reducing Emissions From Deforestation and Forest ...

By Heather Robbins

The Fisher River Cree Nation could see a net gain of $38 million annually if the province approves new boundaries for the proposed Fisher Bay Provincial Park, according to a study released by the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) last Thursday. The study, conducted by the Centre for Indigenous Environmental Resources, a national non-profit First Nation-directed group, found Fisher River would lose more than $2 million in logging and guided hunting industry revenue through the park's creation, but would gain slightly less than $40 million through tourism spending, cottage and other ecological industries. "The results of this study were more extreme than we expected," said Ron Thiessen, CPAWS Manitoba executive director. "The benefits of the provincial park, if it's designated as we've proposed, would be 18 times greater than if the area were harvested for logging, mining and non-Aboriginal hunting. That's a huge increase." The report based its economic benefit ...

By Heather Robbins

Groups supporting environmental projects on two Interlake reserves are receiving money through the provincial Sustainable Development Innovations Fund, according to Conservation Minister Bill Blaikie's announcement last Wednesday. The Ways of Our People program in Peguis will receive $10,000 to teach youth traditional First Nation hunting, fishing, trapping and gathering methods, while the Centre for Indigenous Environmental Resources, a national non-profit First Nation-directed group, will receive $20,000 for research and developing awareness of the existence and needs of at-risk species on Lake Manitoba First Nation traditional lands. "Manitobans are doing their part to protect the environment and improve the quality of life within their communities," said Blaikie. The province selected 36 projects to receive a combined total of more than $567,000, including an Invasive Species Council of Manitoba project to establish an early detection and rapid response network for new invaders and infestations, University of Manitoba projects studying mosquito's natural enemies to ...

Tropical deforestation is a climate change crisis, but scientists fear for boreal wilderness, too

OTTAWA - North of Canada’s capital, underneath an endless expanse of spruce, pine, and birch, ticks what some scientists are calling a carbon bomb: Peat. A thick layer of the black spongy soil, the remnants of ancient forests, wraps the globe’s northern tier. Deeper than 15 feet in places, the peat layer extends over more than 6 million square miles across Russia, Scandinavia, China, Canada, and the United States. Carbon that those forests absorbed from the air over thousands of years is stored in the peat and suspended in waterlogged bogs or permafrost. When it is disturbed or drained - as is happening in some areas - the peat can start to decompose and dry out, unleashing greenhouse gases. In North America alone, the peat and the trees growing in it hold as much carbon as would be ...

Kaskatamagan and Kaskatamagan Sipi Wildlife Management Areas (WMA) Added to Protected Areas

On the eve of the Copenhagen climate-change summit, Manitoba is announcing two new protected areas with significant carbon stores and committing to a new boreal peatlands stewardship strategy, Premier Greg Selinger announced today. “We are adding almost 400,000 hectares in the boreal tundra transition area to our protected land base,” Selinger said. “Kaskatamagan Wildlife Management Area is 259,530 hectares and is home to the western Hudson Bay sub-population of polar bears from July to November and caribou in the summer. The Kaskatamagan Sipi WMA protects 133,820 hectares of wilderness in the boreal Arctic tundra transition zone and is recognized as a globally significant bird area.” For a couple of weeks each year, beluga whales, polar bears and caribou can all be found along the coast at the same time, making it a unique destination for ecotourism activities such as ...

WINNIPEG - The creation of a provincial park proposed around Fisher Bay would add $38 million to the Manitoba economy, according to a new study. Conducted by the Centre for Indigenous Environmental Resources, the study shows current industries in the area of Fisher River Cree Nation — logging, non-aboriginal hunting and mining — generate about $2.2 million annually for Manitoba’s economy. An industry sustained by park management as well as ecological and cultural tourism would bring in about $40 million per year, the study concluded. An area around the bay was granted interim protection by the province as a potential park site in 1999. A study done in 2006 recommended those boundaries be expanded "according to the best ecological and cultural considerations, rather than political lines," said Ron Thiessen, executive director of Manitoba’s chapter with the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society. The most recent study, released today, examined the prospects of that broader area. The ...

Award Recognizes Dedication of Province To Protecting, Sustaining Boreal Forest

Manitoba is extremely honoured to receive a 2009 Boreal Award in recognition of the province’s efforts, in co-operation with First Nations, to protect and sustain Canada’s boreal forest, Deputy Premier Eric Robinson, minister of Aboriginal and northern affairs, said today. “Since 1999, Manitoba has permanently protected 871,000 hectares of land in parks, wildlife management areas and ecological reserves,” Robinson said. “We are committed to expanding on this by adding more protected areas. On behalf of the province, former premier Gary Doer and Premier Greg Selinger, it is a distinct honour to accept the Boreal Award in recognition of this important conservation work.” The award was presented by the Canadian Boreal Initiative (CBI) yesterday at a ceremony in Ottawa. CBI works with First Nations, conservation organizations, industry and other interested parties to link science, policy and conservation initiatives across ...

MANITOBA'S polar bears have a friend in Premier Greg Selinger. So does the vast expanse of bog that covers much of northern Manitoba and acts like a huge carbon sink. Monday's throne speech confirmed two environmental initiatives that could pay huge dividends. Manitoba will make a major contribution to establish a new Polar Bear Research and Arctic exhibit at Assiniboine Park Zoo. "The polar bear is a good focus because it will attract tourists to Manitoba," Selinger said. Margaret Redmond, president of Assiniboine Park Conservancy, said the province's commitment will help the conservancy gets its fundraising going. "This money gives us the confidence to continue our design phase," Redmond said. "We hope with other funding in place that we could see those pieces completed as early as 2011." The exhibit will be part of a $180-million makeover of Assiniboine Park over the next decade. It will include a conservation centre that will work in tandem with the ...

Manitoba's northern trappers are having a miserable time getting started this year due to unusually mild November weather. In such remote places as Lac Brochet, trappers typically travel to their trap lines at this time of year by crossing lakes and rivers on snowmobiles or all-terrain vehicles. That's impossible right now because of unsafe ice. "I was hoping to get up there this year, but I haven't got anywhere yet cause of the weather," said Napoleon Denechezhe, who traps about 100 kilometres from La Brochet. "It's really hard right now. I don't know if anybody is going to be doing any trapping this year — from here, anyway." It takes roughly one hour to reach La Brochet by airplane from Thompson, which is about 750 kilometres north of Winnipeg. Other trappers with road access to their lines will attempt to get there this weekend. One of those, Richard Danielson, traps near Cranberry Portage, which is ...

OTTAWA - Climate change threatens to destroy roads, buildings and pipelines in Canada's North and the communities are not prepared to deal effectively with those challenges, a new report warned Thursday. The report, by the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, an independent federal advisory panel, offered a grim picture of what degrading permafrost, melting ice roads, storm surges and coastal erosion could do to the country's far north. It also warned that increased snowfall and changing ice conditions will add stress to buildings, and energy and communications infrastructure that were built for different snow and ice conditions. "Climate change is moving fastest in Arctic areas, requiring Canada to be a world leader in adaptation practices, more than we had even contemplated," said Round Table chair Bob Page. The report noted that winter roads melting earlier in the spring can force communities to airlift supplies, while melting permafrost can destabilize foundations ...

Today, the Manitoba chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) released its new report entitled Caribou and You report. The report tells the story of the woodland caribou’s decline and how saving the threatened species from extinction will help slow the affects of climate change. Download the report (PDF, 4.5 MB) Woodland caribou require immense, unbroken Boreal wilderness to find enough food and avoid predators. As the Boreal is the world’s largest land-based storehouse of carbon, these vast intact spaces also help to curb climate change. “By protecting the caribou’s home in our Boreal wilderness, we slow the accelerator pedal on climate change,” says Ron Thiessen, CPAWS Manitoba Executive Director. “Humans need big protected Boreal spaces as much as caribou do.” Canada’s Boreal stores more than 186 billion tons of carbon – 27 years’ worth of global carbon emissions from the burning of fossil fuels. When the Boreal is developed or ...

By Richard Black, Environment correspondent, BBC News website

Money invested in protecting nature can bring huge financial returns, according to a major investigation into the costs and benefits of the natural world.

It says money ploughed into protecting wetlands, coral reefs and forests can bring a hundredfold return on capital. The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity study (Teeb) is backed by the UN and countries including the UK. The project's leader says governments should act on its findings at next month's UN climate summit. Teeb is the first attempt to evaluate the economic value of "ecosystem services" - things that parts of the natural world do for free, such as purifying drinking water or protecting coasts from storms - on a systematic and global basis. "We have now evaluated 1,100 studies ranging across different countries and different ecosystem services," said study leader Pavan Sukhdev, a Deutsche Bank economist. "And we find that with protected areas, for example, ...

Report Calls for Global Climate Talks to Consider Boreal’s Impact

OTTAWA, Ontario—When the world thinks of forests and their value to offset global warming, tropical forests come to mind. A report released today shows that the global impact of Canada’s boreal forest, which stores nearly twice as much carbon per hectare as tropical forests, has been vastly underestimated. “The Carbon the World Forgot” identifies the boreal forests of North America as not only the cornerstone habitat for key mammal species, but one of the most significant carbon stores in the world, the equivalent of 26 years of global emissions from burning fossil fuels, based on 2006 emissions levels. Globally, these forests store 22 percent of all carbon on the earth’s land surface. “Past accounting greatly underestimated the amount and depth of carbon stored in and under the boreal forest,” said Jeff Wells, an author of the report. In addition to carbon storage ...

The Merida Message aimed at Copenhagen UN Climate Change Conference

Merida, Mexico -- The Chairman and Executive Committee of the 9th World Wilderness Congress (WILD9) issued today The Merida Message (Mensaje de Merida) calling for the protection of critical land and sea wilderness areas to mitigate climate change and conserve biodiversity and healthy ecosystems that provide products and services vital to human well-being. The Merida Messages states that runaway carbon emissions are driving the climate towards irreversible tipping points, we are contaminating our planet with pervasive toxicity, destroying the diversity of life on our planet, exhausting freshwater supplies and causing acidification in our oceans, and over-exploiting our oceans, causing fisheries to collapse. As a result, we are deepening poverty, weakening social structures and threatening global security. This situation is in stark contrast to the world we can have if wilderness and its contribution to natural life support systems are properly valued and protected. Wilderness sustains us, generating the essential services that make possible our ...

CPAWS welcomes the announcement today by the Honourable Jim Prentice, Minister of the Environment, of a historic memorandum of understanding between the countries of North America to work together to create a “well-connected continent-wide network of protected areas”. “Making a commitment to create networks of protected wilderness areas is a significant step in safeguarding Canada’s and North America’s ecosystems, and we welcome it wholeheartedly,” says CPAWS National Executive Director Eric Hebert-Daly, who is returning from the Merida, Mexico “Wild 9” Congress where the minister made his announcement. Canada and most other developed countries have until now focused on developing a “representative system” of national parks to protect remnants of existing natural ecosystems – called by some, the “polka dot” approach. In the past decade, conservation biology research has convincingly made the case that in order to keep ecosystems healthy, we need to create large interconnected networks of protected areas that ...

At a farewell dinner for Gary Doer on October 17th, the outgoing Premier stated “Do not ever give up on the dream of protecting the east side of Lake Winnipeg.” – CBC news Other comments from Gary Doer about the east side of Lake Winnipeg during his last month of Premier:

“I commend our First Nations partners for their vision and leadership toward securing UNESCO World Heritage status for the unique place they call home east of Lake Winnipeg. Today’s commitment (10 million dollar trust fund) will help ensure their efforts will result in a sustainable international attraction that benefits the people who live there.”- MB government press release “Let's have a world UNESCO site in Manitoba with that beautiful, beautiful boreal forest." – CBC news "The value of this is $120 million a year to the people living in the area if properly stewarded into the ...

WINNIPEG, Oct. 13 /CNW Telbec/ - Today, in his final days in office before becoming Canada's Ambassador to the United States, Manitoba's Premier Gary Doer announced a $10 million trust fund for conservation. The fund will support the on-going work of several First Nations involved in designating their Boreal homelands as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Spanning an area larger than Vancouver Island, this 40,000 square kilometre region straddling the Manitoba-Ontario border is one of the most ecologically intact Boreal forest ecosystems in the world. "Premier Doer deserves credit as a tireless champion for the World Heritage site. This fund ensures that First Nations will have the resources to manage and protect their homelands," said Larry Innes, Executive Director of the Canadian Boreal Initiative (CBI). "We're proud to stand here today with the Province and the communities to celebrate their vision and leadership." The Poplar River, Little Grand Rapids, Pauingassi and Pikangikum ...

$10 Million Investment in East Side Stewardship To Initiate International Fundraising Campaign Manitoba will contribute $10 million to establish a trust fund expected to be worth a minimum of $20 million in support of the Pimachiowin Aki World Heritage Project, Premier Gary Doer announced today. "I commend our First Nations partners for their vision and leadership toward securing UNESCO World Heritage status for the unique place they call home east of Lake Winnipeg," said Doer. "Today's commitment will help ensure their efforts will result in a sustainable international attraction that benefits the people who live there." The Pimachiowin Aki World Heritage project is an initiative led by the Poplar River, Little Grand Rapids, Pauingassi and Pikangikum First Nations with support from the governments of Manitoba and Ontario. The group is currently preparing a bid to secure a UNESCO World Heritage designation for lands within a 40,000-square-kilometre area of pristine boreal forest in eastern Manitoba and western Ontario. The site is under tentative UNESCO consideration with ...

ROBERVAL, QUEBEC--(Marketwire - Oct. 9, 2009) - The Honourable Denis Lebel, Minister of State for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec and Member of Parliament for Roberval−Lac-Saint-Jean, announced today on behalf of the Minister of Environment Canada, the Honourable Jim Prentice, the contribution of 210,000 dollars to six Aboriginal organizations in Quebec, including a 42,000 dollars contribution to the Conseil des Montagnais du Lac Saint-Jean as part of the Aboriginal Funds for Species at Risk Program. This amount comes from the budget that the Government of Canada recently committed to the Aboriginal Funds for Species at Risk Program. This amount will be allocated to six projects and be used to support Aboriginal organizations and communities in building capacity to enable their participation in the protection and recovery of species at risk on Aboriginal lands. "The Aboriginal Funds for Species at Risk Program is a concrete example of ...

WINNIPEG - Greg Selinger reaffirmed his commitment to protect the boreal forest on the east side of Lake Winnipeg this afternoon and unveiled a plan for aboriginal-led economic development and eco-tourism for the area. "It is a responsibility for all of us to protect the boreal forest and get it established as a UNESCO world heritage site," Selinger said. "We will work with communities on the east side of Lake Winnipeg to build a plan to protect the forest while providing sustainable economic opportunities for the people who live there." Selinger released the plan while meeting with members of the Manitoba Young New Democrats, who are holding a leadership vote tonight at the University of Winnipeg. Some 108 delegate spots at the Oct. 17 leadership convention are up for grabs. MYND members from outside the city were sent ballots by mail. Those mail-in votes will also be counted tonight. Unlike the delegate selection process in ...

The Chitek Lake and Poplar/Nanowin Rivers park reserves have received a five year extension of their protection from industrial developments. A park reserve is an area placed in interim protection while a decision making process ensues to determine a permanent designation. The park reserve process obligates the province to consult with local communities and receive input from industrial stakeholders and Manitoba citizens. The province has been shamefully slow at moving park reserves’ processes forward. Over the last decade, we have witnessed the extension of the majority of Manitoba’s park reserves’ deadlines due to the Manitoba government’s failure to take the steps necessary to complete the job. CPAWS encourages the province to deal with this issue by allocating the human and other resources required to establish protected areas in our wilderness regions. For more detail and maps of the Chitek Lake and Poplar/Nanowin Rivers park reserves, please visit: http://www.gov.mb.ca/conservation/parks/public_consult/index.html

Fisher River Cree Nation, a community working with CPAWS to establish a Fisher Bay provincial park around the south basin of Lake Winnipeg, won a tourism award today for the Leigh Cochrane Memorial Visitors Centre. The Visitors Centre is proposed to serve as the hub for the candidate park. At the Interlake Tourism Awards ceremony today, Wayne Copet of Travel Manitoba spoke highly of Fisher River’s Visitors Centre. “Sometime in life, projects start as one thing and somewhere along the path they verve sharply,” said Wayne. “This is the case for the Leigh Cochrane Memorial Visitors Centre that started as a project to teach some Fisher River Cree Nation residents how to build log cabins. Now it’s a site for country music acts such as Charlie Major, Marty Stuart and Johnny Reid. When you ...

The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society is asking Premier Doer to "Make Forests Count" at the Governors' Global Climate Summit 2, On the Road to Copenhagen, which continues today and tomorrow in Los Angeles. To date, the Manitoba government has left protection of the Boreal Region's carbon stores out of its Climate Change Strategy. As the Boreal's forests and wetlands are the largest terrestrial storehouse of carbon on the planet, it's shocking the province has yet to include large-scale Boreal protection from industrial developments as part of its Climate Strategy. Canada's Boreal stores more than 186 billion tons of carbon – 27 years' worth of global carbon emissions from the burning of fossil fuels! But when the Boreal Forest is developed or logged, its ability to absorb and store carbon is lost or reduced, which degrades its ability to help ...

Source: Cpaws Manitoba News Release

The recent accounts in the Winnipeg Free Press that Manitoba NDP leadership candidate Andrew Swan, if elected, will reconsider the party’s decision to run a major hydro corridor down the east side of Lake Winnipeg are false. It’s important to note that the reports in the Winnipeg Free Press indicating that Andrew Swan would revisit the BiPole III issue do not contain any direct quotes to that effect. Here is Andrew Swan’s response to the claims: “I want to be crystal clear on the Bipole lll issue because I know how important it is to Manitoba’s future, said Swan. “After extensive consultation with stakeholders, the decision on the location of Bipole lll was made. I believed the decision was the right one then, and I believe it is the right one today. I look forward to hearing all ideas about how we can create a better future ...

CPAWS wishes to congratulate all the candidates who ran in the August 19th election in Fisher River. Fisher River Cree Nation is working to establish a First Nation designed and co-managed provincial park on the south basin of Lake Winnipeg. The park will respect and uphold all Treaty rights and access for traditional activities while protecting the natural setting from industrial developments. [caption id="attachment_242" align="alignnone" width="480" caption="Chief David Crate, Councilor Carl Cochrane, Councilor Dion McKay, and Councilor Darrel Thaddeus. Councilor Vince Crate was unavailable for the photograph."][/caption] To find out more about Fisher River Cree Nation's quest for a provincial park - http://cpawsmb.org/conservation/fisherbay1.php

We often write about the challenges facing Canada - the lack of a credible plan to address climate change, the over reliance on tar sands to fuel our energy needs and economy, the snail's pace with which we work to protect endangered species and their habitat, including iconic wildlife like polar bears and caribou. But Canada Day got us thinking about all we have to celebrate. Thanks in large part to the efforts of individual Canadians, First Nations, and environmental organizations, our municipal, provincial, and federal governments have made some great strides to protect Canada's natural heritage. Just last month, the federal government and the Dehcho First Nation announced a plan to permanently protect more than 30,000 square kilometres of boreal wilderness in Nahanni National Park Reserve in the Northwest Territories. That's an area the size of Vancouver Island! The announcement came on the heels of a new law introduced in Ontario that ...

WINNIPEG — An American charitable foundation is giving $30,000 to help secure a UNESCO World heritage designation for Manitoba’s boreal forest. The Chicago-based John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has donated the money to the University of Winnipeg on condition that it be used to help the First Nation communities of Little Grand Rapids and Pauingassi develop management plans for their traditional territories and to help identify the lands to be included in the UNESCO nomination. The U of W will administer the project for the foundation. Conservation Minister Stan Struthers said the MacArthur contribution confirms the government’s position that the UNESCO bid has international support. Struthers said the Doer government has committed $531,000 this year for the UNESCO bid. The UNESCO bid has been made by a local native group. If successful, the boreal forest that straddles the Manitoba-Ontario forest will join recognized sites like the Canadian Rocky Mountains, the Taj Mahal, the ...

Source: Toronto Star When does "No" mean "No?" In Ontario's Far North, the answer still isn't clear despite recent changes to two major laws governing that vast wilderness of boreal forest and tundra. The region has been off-limits to most development, with the exception of the De Beers Canada Victor diamond mine near the James Bay coast and a claim-staking rush for additional diamonds and other minerals. That activity, and the prospect of far more, has angered environmental groups and caused conflict between mining companies and some of the 37 aboriginal communities that collectively claim most of the 425,000 square kilometres as traditional territories. The proposed Far North Act and the new Mining Act are intended to resolve the competing demands. Half the region is to be off-limits to development, apart from tourism; nothing substantial is supposed to happen elsewhere until land-use plans are created. The government says those plans will require the approval of any ...

Manitoba Government Press Release First Nations on the east side of Lake Winnipeg will play a major role in ensuring better protection, management and development of traditional lands under the East Side Traditional Lands Planning and Special Protected Areas Act, Conservation Minister Stan Struthers said today. “Under this new legislation, east side communities now have the option of using this legal tool to plan their traditional lands and to protect lands that have significant cultural and environmental value,” said Struthers. Struthers said First Nations themselves will determine if they want to take advantage of using the East Side Traditional Lands Planning and Special Protected Areas Act and noted no First Nation will be required to use the act. The first of its kind in Canada, the legislation provides First Nations the option to provide interim and permanent legal protection of traditional lands on the east side of Lake Winnipeg. It ensures any new ...

By Matt Walker, BBC News The first global review of their status has found that populations are declining almost everywhere they live, from Alaska and Canada, to Greenland, Scandinavia and Russia. The iconic deer is vital to indigenous peoples around the circumpolar north. Yet it is increasingly difficult for the deer to survive in a world warmed by climate change and altered by industrial development, say scientists. Reindeer and caribou belong to the same species, Rangifer tarandus. Caribou live in Canada, Alaska and Greenland; while reindeer live in Russia, Norway, Sweden and Finland. Worldwide, seven sub-species are recognised. Each are genetically, morphologically and behaviourally a little different, though capable of interbreeding with one another. These differences between sub-species dictate how each is affected by human impacts. [caption id="attachment_196" align="alignright" width="226" caption="Reindeer and caribou numbers worldwide: red denotes herds in decline, green indicates those on the increase and dark grey means no data is available. Reindeer and caribou do ...

Role of communities needs to be front and centre in new law, coalition says

TORONTO – A coalition of leading environmental groups applaud legislation introduced today that would enshrine Premier Dalton McGuinty’s commitment to protect at least 225,000 square kilometres of the northern boreal forest. The Far North Planning and Protection Act, if passed, would help Ontario fight climate change, protect ecosystems and ensure First Nations have control over land-use decisions as they plan for cultural renewal and economic prosperity. The draft legislation makes progress on commitments made last year by Premier McGuinty to protect the boreal forest and improve relationships with Aboriginal people. The coalition notes that for the first time in Ontario history, First Nations will lead planning for their traditional territories. It also welcomes a commitment in the legislation to create a new body to help with implementation and coordination of planning. “The Premier has made good on his promise ...

On June 9, the Ontario government introduced new legislation that would allow for the permanent protection of at least half of the 450,000 square kilometres that makes up the northern Boreal Forest region of Ontario -- one of the last great, undeveloped spaces on our planet. CPAWS Manitoba joins its colleagues in Ontario, Wildlands League, in applauding this important next step taken by Ontario. CPAWS Manitoba also hopes the Manitoba government will soon join the impressive ‘Boreal Leaders’ club and make its own spectacular protection commitment. Both Quebec and Ontario have made commitments to protect 50% or more of their Boreal Regions. “The proposed Far North Act would place Ontario among world leaders in boreal protection and represent the largest land protection commitment in North America to fight climate change,” Ontario Minister Donna Cansfield said in that province’s legislature yesterday. “It would also set the stage for carefully managed sustainable ...

THOMPSON—The Province of Manitoba is responding to growing business opportunities in the north by supporting a program to support entrepreneurs who harvest and develop non-timber forest products, Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives Minister Rosann Wowchuk and Culture, Heritage, Tourism and Sport Minister Eric Robinson, acting minister of Aboriginal and northern affairs, announced today. “The Non-timber Forest Products program is designed to encourage potential, new and existing entrepreneurs and youth to take advantage of opportunities to launch and grow businesses based on harvesting, developing and marketing wild-harvested products available in and around northern communities,” said Wowchuk. “Many products have been identified and marketed but many more are success stories waiting to be discovered.” “Employment from non-timber forest products generates business and job-income opportunities for youth, individuals and communities in Manitoba’s northern regions,” said Robinson. “Developing these locally available products leads to self-employment and diversifies northern economies creating sustainable ...

Boreal birds are the proverbial canaries in the coal mine, say Bridget Stutchbury, Jeffrey Wells and Caroline Schultz

Source:Globe and Mail International Migratory Bird Day, which falls tomorrow, reminds us of the remarkable phenomenon we witness every year at this time: an amazing spring migration, with millions of birds flying thousands of kilometres from South and Central America and the southern United States north to Canada's vast boreal forest. But with each passing year, the number of these avian visitors diminishes. In fact, migratory songbirds are experiencing one of the most precipitous declines of any animal group on earth. We have already seen startling declines in the populations of some species that depend on the boreal forest. The olive-sided flycatcher and the Canada warbler, once common boreal breeding species, are now listed as threatened by the Committee for the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Trends in long-term breeding-bird surveys have revealed population declines ...

Source: The Toronto Star editorial The province has rightly committed to protecting the woodland caribou, a threatened species that lives in a remote part of northern Ontario. However, the government's plan may fall short of its objective. Public consultation on the draft Caribou Conservation Plan wraps up today. Environmentalists and wildlife advocates have dismissed it as inadequate. They say the Ministry of Natural Resources is trying to address conservation concerns without sufficiently holding back the logging industry. In other words, "suck and blow" at the same time. If the government cannot find the appropriate balance between just two interests – caribou and logging – how will it manage the even bigger challenges inherent in developing land use plans for the entire far north, an area twice the size of the United Kingdom? Legislation laying out the principles for northern land use is expected to be introduced in the coming days, before the Legislature rises ...

Proposed amendments do little to prevent conflicts

TORONTO – In response to proposed changes to Ontario’s Mining Act, Mushkegowuk Council, Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug and Ardoch Algonquin First Nation call on the province to respect the right of First Nations to say NO to all aspects of mining from prospecting to exploration to full mine development in their traditional territories. The First Nations clarify that the Ontario government must respect and adhere to Constitutional duty of consultation and accommodation and the internationally recognized right of free prior and informed consent. This has not been addressed by the proposed changes Minister Gravelle introduced on April 30, 2009. “The Supreme Court of Canada has said that consultation and accommodation have to be meaningful. How can they be meaningful if we don’t have the right to say NO to mining that will impact our lives and culture?” says Grand Chief Stan Louttit of the Mushkegowuk Council. The ...

New Resources to Support Traditional Lands Planning, Nomination Document: Struthers

Source: Manitoba Government News Release Manitoba is providing $531,000 in additional new financial and staffing support in 2009-10 for traditional lands planning and a UNESCO World Heritage Site nomination for the east side of Lake Winnipeg, Conservation Minister Stan Struthers announced today. “As First Nations pursue their bid for a world heritage designation in eastern Manitoba and northwestern Ontario, the province will increase support for their efforts with investments in traditional lands planning,” said Struthers. The minister noted the Little Grand Rapids and Pauingassi First Nations will receive priority attention as their land-use plans will be an essential component of the nomination document for the UNESCO world heritage designation. The minister notes this investment includes a 30-per-cent increase in grant funding for the Pimachiowin Aki Corporation to prepare the nomination document and video. Manitoba Conservation funding in 2009-10 will increase by $80,000 ...

Source: Manitoba Government News Release A memorandum of understanding to further improve the working relationship between First Nations and the Province of Manitoba was signed today by Culture, Heritage, Tourism and Sport Minister Eric Robinson, acting Aboriginal and northern affairs minister, Conservation Minister Stan Struthers, and Treaty One chiefs. “We welcome the opportunity to have a more productive working relationship with the Treaty One First Nations and this agreement signifies the movement toward developing a government-to-government relationship,” said Robinson. “Treaty One has a number of issues to address with the province and this document helps create the forum for discussions.” “This agreement will further improve and strengthen the work done by the First Nations and the provincial government on treaty rights and provides the opportunity for greater clarity and understanding,” said Struthers. “As well, existing levels of treaty knowledge in the provincial government will be enhanced through this initiative.” “The ...

Norway House sets goal for 2020

By Aldo Santin, Winnipeg Free Press MARCEL Balfour is challenging the 5,500 residents of Norway House Cree Nation to become proficient in Cree by the year 2020. Balfour, chief of Norway House, persuaded the band council earlier this week to adopt a multi-faceted motion that will make Cree the community's official language and will encourage residents to speak Cree as often as possible. Balfour, 40, readily admits he is far from being proficient in Cree but adds he's prepared to do whatever it takes. "I'll have to roll up my sleeves and get with the program," Balfour said. The resolution also designates the third Monday of September as Cree Language Day and a local holiday, when all band employees and members will speak only Cree. "We want to have councillors go into the schools and have the students see them speaking Cree," Balfour said. Balfour estimates that about 75 per cent of ...

Bill Would Expand Manitoba Floodway Authority's Mandate To Manage Road Construction on East Side of Lake Winnipeg: Lemieux

Source: Manitoba Government The Government of Manitoba has introduced legislation that would enable the Manitoba Floodway Authority (MFA) to oversee construction of an all-season road on the east side of Lake Winnipeg, Manitoba Infrastructure and Transportation Minister Ron Lemieux announced today in the legislature. "For many years, First Nations people living on the east side of Lake Winnipeg have been calling for an all-season road that would permanently link communities as well as improve access and economic development opportunities for the region," said Lemieux. "The construction of this road provides an incredible opportunity to help lower transportation costs, increase economic development opportunities and enhance the quality of life for residents living in the remote and isolated communities of this region." The proposed legislation would formally expand the MFA's mandate to assume responsibility for the East Side Transportation Initiative. The initiative includes construction of a 170-kilometre, all-season road from PR 304 ...

Construction on first 90 km to start this year

By Bruce Owen, Winnipeg Free Press The province and First Nations groups took the first step Thursday on an ambitious plan to build an all-weather road system through a wilderness area the size of England on the east side of Lake Winnipeg. The huge area is home to about 22 communities -- many of which are the most isolated in the country. The people who live there have waited more than a decade for a more reliable and economical way to travel other than winter roads and aircraft. "If they can build Confederation Bridge over the ocean we can build this," Oxford House Bunibonibee Cree Nation Chief Bailey Colon said. "There's no reason it can't be done." Construction of the road up the east side of Lake Winnipeg will start this year with the upgrade of ...

By Ron Evans for the Winnipeg Free Press Pity nobody asked First Nations about the biggest review of Manitoba land-use policies in the last 15 years. This month, the Doer government announced the province will overhaul its policies on land use to better balance the competing interests of development with industry and conservation, heritage and environment. The last time this happened was 1994. Decisions are probably a year away so the blueprint isn't set yet; but once it is, that plan will help to chart the course of Manitoba into the 21st century. Eight town hall forums are planned, from April 20 to May 4, in various locations around the province, including one meeting at the Norwood Hotel in Winnipeg April 27. A 64-page document entitled Provincial Land Use Policies, Draft for Consultation, includes some perfunctory references to First Nations. They're restricted to references to the outstanding 1.4 million acres in treaty land entitlement obligations ...

Press Release, Canadian Boreal Initiative

OTTAWA, April 9, 2009: The Canadian Boreal Initiative (CBI) welcomes the release of the scientific report on woodland caribou, issued today by Environment Canada. Going forward, the success of the recovery strategy will hinge on habitat protection and land use planning in partnership with Aboriginal communities. “This report is a good first step,” said Larry Innes, Executive Director of CBI. “To be truly successful, the strategy must now engage with First Nations communities in consultation and accommodation to ensure that they are fully involved in woodland caribou conservation.” The woodland caribou, which live in Canada’s Boreal region, are listed as ‘threatened’ under the federal Species At Risk Act. The scientific report describes methods for identifying critical habitat necessary to for the recovery of viable populations of woodland caribou. "Woodland caribou won’t survive a business-as-usual approach,” said Mr. Innes. “Woodland caribou are a primary indicator of healthy, intact Boreal forest, ...

Calls for halt to logging and road building in remaining intact habitat

Winnipeg – Today, the Manitoba Chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) welcomes the release of a groundbreaking scientific report from Environment Canada on Boreal caribou. The report underscores the importance of protecting large areas of habitat from human-caused threats in the Boreal Forest. It also confirms that threats to woodland caribou need to be managed at the range-level and significant parts of those ranges need to be protected. The Environment Canada report, titled Scientific Review for the Identification of Critical Habitat for Woodland Caribou, shows that woodland caribou are in worse trouble than what was previously thought, the groups says. “Woodland caribou is an icon of Canadian wilderness, and this new report shows that immediate action is needed in Manitoba and across the country,” says Ron Thiessen, CPAWS Manitoba Executive Director. CPAWS, a national conservation organization, ...

Chief says NDP stalling -- but minister denies that

By Larry Kusch, Winnipeg Free Press The Fisher River Cree Nation and an environmental group accused the Doer government Tuesday of foot-dragging in the development of a provincial scenic wilderness park on the southwest basin of Lake Winnipeg. FRCN is proposing the creation of a park four times the size of Winnipeg to permanently safeguard the area from industrial development and allow it to create jobs in tourism. However, 10 years after land was first set aside for the park, the project appears to be stalled, according to the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS), which is assisting the First Nation. On Tuesday, Fisher River Chief David Crate, joined by several supporters, including Ron Evans, grand chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, and Liberal Leader Jon Gerrard, called a news conference to plead his case. "We wanted to stress to the government that it's time now ...

By Jason Halstead, Winnipeg Sun An Interlake First Nation and a wilderness protection group called on the province Tuesday to step up and create a new provincial park on the shores of Lake Winnipeg. Representatives from the Fisher River Cree Nation and the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) have been working together for several years to secure provincial park status for the area along Fisher Bay about 170 kilometres north of Winnipeg where the Fisher River meets Lake Winnipeg. The groups were at the legislature Tuesday to present the 10,000th letter of support for their initiative to government. The province has already declared a part of the area a park reserve, meaning it is protected from industrial development while consultations take place about giving the area full park status. However, the protected area is smaller than what is being proposed by the groups for a provincial park and the groups say the protected ...

A northern community’s efforts to convince the Doer government to create a provincial park in its area is moving to Winnipeg today. The Fisher River Cree Nation is holding a news conference at 11:30 a.m. in room 334 of the Legislative Building. Fisher River chief David Crate said the province created the Fisher Bay park reserve 10 years ago the studies needed to establish a park in the area have not been carried out. "We’re asking the province to finish the job and create the Ochiwasahow (Fisher Bay) provincial park," Crate said in a prepared statement. Ron Thiessen, executive director of the Manitoba Chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, said the establishment of the park is supported by a large cross-section of Manitobans, including politicians of every political stripe. "It would be a crime if the province misses this opportunity to permanently protect the Fisher Bay region," Thiessen said. More details will be released ...

WINNIPEG, March 10. The Fisher River Cree Nation and a leading environmental organization are taking their campaign for a wilderness park to the Manitoba legislature. The groups will appeal directly to elected legislators and the NDP government to finish the job they started and create a new provincial park. They will be hosting a press event on Tuesday, March 10, at 11:30 a.m. in Room 334 of the provincial legislature building. Members of the press and the public are welcome to attend. “Ten years ago we asked Manitoba to protect a special place within our traditional territory in Fisher Bay of Lake Winnipeg,” recalls Chief David Crate of the Fisher River Cree. “We were full of hope that we could soon safeguard our area and share our culture and beautiful wilderness with the whole province.” In response to that initiative, Manitoba established the Fisher Bay Park Reserve which temporarily protects part of the ...

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Oct. 10, 2008) - Ainsworth Lumber Co. Ltd. ("Ainsworth") (TSX:ANS) announced today that it has terminated a commitment agreement with the Government of Manitoba on a planned engineered wood production facility in an area northeast of Winnipeg, Manitoba. The May 2006 agreement contemplated the issuance of a Forest Management License for 838,000 cubic meters annually of timber on a renewable 20 year basis. Ainsworth's recent strategic project review indicated that it is highly unlikely that the company would build the facility in the foreseeable future. Ainsworth's original intention was to construct an engineered wood manufacturing plant capable of producing both oriented strand board (OSB) and oriented strand lumber (OSL) products in conjunction with the First Nations Forestry Limited Partnership ("FNFLP"). "Excellent progress was made over the past three years with the Government of Manitoba and FNFLP to develop a framework to deliver on this project's potential," said Robert ...

Originally published in the March/April edition of the Eco-Journal The chance to join a growing number of cities, states, and countries leading the way in eliminating or restricting the use of plastic bags passed Winnipeg by in early March. Members of the City of Winnipeg’s Standing Policy Committee on Infrastructure Renewal and Public Works met to consider a report on a strategy for the elimination of plastic bag use in Winnipeg resulting from a motion introduced to council by St. Norbert Councillor Justin Swandel in December 2007. The report offered some interesting Winnipeg-specific plastic bag facts: city residents use approximately 135 million plastic bags annually, 50 per cent of all bags are used more than once before heading to the landfill, and plastic bags make up less than 1 per cent of total landfill waste – equivalent to around 800 tonnes. The report also provided three options for consideration: (Continue ...

Originally published in the Winnipeg Sun by Shannon Vanraes The knowledge of aboriginal leaders is being paired up with technology to help conserve and protect Manitoba's boreal forests through the Aboriginal Boreal Conservation Leaders Project. "I think this will be a valuable contribution to Manitoban society," said Ron Theissen, executive director of the Manitoba chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS). He said the project, centred around a new website, will help gather knowledge and stories from aboriginal people, making them available to a wider audience and educating them on the important role played by Canadian forests. "It's designed to inspire others to get involved and get educated," said Theissen, noting the website links people with volunteer and work opportunities as well. Visitors to the site are also able to respond to stories in a blog-like format. Members of the aboriginal community were on hand yesterday for the launch of the ...

Originally published in the Winnipeg Free Press Cree knowledge keeper Mary Crate must drive hundreds of kilometres to find medicinal roots that once grew outside her back door. So Tuesday she took a 220-kilometre drive south from her home in Fisher River First Nation to back a new environmental website designed to exert public pressure to protect and maybe even restore portions of the Manitoba boreal forest under threat from pollution. "We need to communicate more openly with other people so they can see why we're trying to protect the land," Crate said at the launch of www.abcleaders.org. "We need this land so we can have our medicine and we can live," The website is a joint initiative of the environmental group Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society in Manitoba, the Winnipeg Foundation and aboriginal people like Crate. The website, Aboriginal Boreal Conservation Leaders, offers profiles of aboriginal people concerned with conservation in hopes of ...