February 2, 2007
Manitoba Provides $130,000 To Help Secure UNESCO World Heritage Site
The province will provide $130,000 in funding to support ongoing efforts to have lands east of Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba and in northwestern Ontario recognized as a world heritage site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Conservation Minister Stan Struthers announced today.
The grant was announced on the same day that four First Nations and the governments of Manitoba and Ontario announced the formation of Pimachiowin-Aki, a new, a non-profit corporation working to secure the UNESCO designation.
“This is an area of significant cultural and natural value,” said Struthers. “It is a living cultural landscape for First Nations people who have lived there for thousands of years. It also has a wealth of forests, lakes and habitat for threatened and endangered species such as the woodland caribou and we support every effort to have UNESCO recognize the site.”
The work of Pimachiowin-Aki has received administrative support from the International Institute for Sustainable Development. The $130,000 will allow Pimachiowin-Aki to continue its work toward the development of a nomination for a world heritage site over the next three years. The investment is in addition to $25,000 in support last year for the institute’s work with world heritage site initiative.
The area involves about 42,000 square kilometres and includes traditional territories of the Little Grand Rapids, Paunigassi, Pikangikum and Poplar River First Nations. It also includes Atikaki Provincial Park in Manitoba and Woodland Caribou Provincial Park in Ontario.
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