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Bloodvein partners with province on UNESCO heritage bid

By: Aldo Santin

Posted: 01/11/2012 11:51 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

J.J. ALI / SUPPLIED Enlarge Image

The boreal forest landscape on the Bloodvein River.

The Bloodvein First Nation is joining the province’s UNESCO Word Heritage bid for the east side of Lake Winnipeg.

Conservation Minister Dave Chomiak and Aboriginal and Northern Affairs Minister Eric Robinson said the province has designated 3,900 square kilometres of Bloodvein’s traditional land as a traditional-use planning area, protecting its resources while guiding future development.

"Bloodvein First Nation has developed a strong plan to guide economic development in the area while protecting the land, wildlife, waterways and natural resources," Chomiak said in a prepared statement released this morning. "We will continue to work with the community to implement this plan, protect the boreal forest and include it as part of the bid for a UNESCO World Heritage Site."

Bloodvein First Nation is located more than 250 kilometres north of Winnipeg on the east side of Lake Winnipeg.

Bloodvein’s land-management plan will be part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site bid, which will be formally submitted this year, Chomiak said.

The land management plans of the Poplar River, Pauingassi, and Little Grand Rapids First Nations, two provincial parks, and the Pikangikum First Nation in Ontario will also form part of the UNESCO bid.

The designation of the Bloodvein land was applauded by the Manitoba Chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS).

"This is a great day in Manitoba history," Rod Thiessen, executive director of the Manitoba chapter of CPAWS, said. "CPAWS is proud to work with all involved to permanently protect the web of life in our great boreal wilderness."

CPAWS has been an advocate of formal protection for the east side of Lake Winnipeg, which it says contains the world’s largest supply of fresh water and the forest acts as the northern lungs of the planet.

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