Nahanni -- A place that should last forever

Posted on November 9, 2005

by Justin Trudeau

A slightly shorter version of this text appeared in The Globe and Mail on Monday, November 7th, 2005.

If he wanted to, Prime Minister Paul Martin could take a decision right now that would protect one of the most magnificent, yet fragile, places on earth. A place in the Northwest Territories' boreal forest where eagles soar, and woodland caribou, Dall's sheep and grizzly bears roam. A place where more than 300 kinds of lichen grow in mist-shrouded valleys, clinging to cliffs that soar higher than those of the Grand Canyon.

But the Prime Minister doesn't have time to waste. Because today, a mining company is pushing to begin operations in this very place I am writing of -- the Nahanni wilderness -- one of the most extraordinarily beautiful, unsullied areas on earth.

Nahanni is a place that is revered in the traditional stories of local Aboriginal people. It is a place, covering 35,000 square kilometres, where wildfires burn freely, regenerating the forest. It is a place that local First Nations want protected from industrial development. It is a place that the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society has been advocating for with increasing urgency in the past few years.

At its heart Nahanni National Park Reserve and World Heritage Site protects a corridor along part of the South Nahanni River. The park only covers one-seventh of the South Nahanni watershed. And less than 35 kilometres upstream from the park reserve, on the shores of Prairie Creek, a small mining company called Canadian Zinc Corporation is itching to fire up a long dormant mine site developed in the 1980s, but abandoned prior to start-up.

This is a mine that the world does not need. It's a mine that the federal government has the power to stop. It's a mine that is not supported by local First Nation's communities. It's a mine that has never had a proper environmental impact assessment. And it's within an ecosystem that Canada promised the world to protect.

The federal government has already committed to expanding Nahanni National Park Reserve. Parks Canada is studying this area right now and consulting with local communities about how far the park's boundaries should be extended. But that process will take at least another year to complete. Meanwhile, the owners of Canadian Zinc are doing everything within their power to get the mine operating as soon as possible.

But there's a catch. The mine does not yet have permission to operate beyond exploration activities. And if it wanted to, the federal government could decide today to say no to this mine. There are abundant reasons for the government to take this route, and to take it now, while there is still time.

Canadian Zinc's proposed mine poses a serious environmental threat:

•The mine site is perched right beside Prairie Creek, in a region vulnerable to landslides, flash floods and earthquakes, and we have seen in recent months the disaster nature's forces can pose to man-made defences such as dikes.

•The mine's haul road would cross a landscape that is highly vulnerable to potential chemical spills and groundwater contamination.

•Forty tonnes of cyanide are sitting a few hundred metres from the creek -- part of the legacy of the failed start up more than 20 years ago, and a prime example of mining companies' lack of commitment to environmental responsibility.

I'll admit to strong bias here. Nahanni is very special to me. My father, as Prime Minister, was instrumental in creating Nahanni National Park Reserve in 1972 to protect the river from a proposed hydro electric dam. A few years later, the United Nations selected Nahanni as one of the first World Heritage Sites, recognizing its significance as a unique boreal wilderness area for the global community.

For years, scientists have been warning us that the park is just too small. Too small to protect the woodland caribou, too small for grizzly bears, and too small to protect the fragile and unparalleled karst limestone landscapes that lie north of the current park.

Karst is one of the features that makes the Nahanni a globally significant natural area. World-renowned karst expert Dr. Derek Ford has called the Nahanni karst the most important example of arctic or subarctic karst known on the planet. By its very nature, this landscape of caves, canyons, sinkholes and underground rivers and streams is extremely vulnerable to groundwater contamination. Water moves swiftly through its "secret landscape", feeding water directly into the South Nahanni River. And yet, Canadian Zinc wants to build a haul road through the heart of the karstlands to carry chemicals and metal concentrates to and from the Prairie Creek mine site.

Two years ago, I stood for the first time above the Nahanni's Virginia Falls, on a voyage organized by CPAWS. And when I stood above those falls that are twice the height of Niagara, I pledged to see completed the work my father started more than 30 years ago -- to expand the national park to protect the entire South Nahanni Watershed, including the Nahanni karstlands.

I know that being in this magical place inspired by father to act, and I too am inspired today to contribute what I can to this cause. For the Nahanni truly stands as an icon for Canada's vast boreal region that is one of the planet's few remaining large wilderness forests. It offers us the opportunity to show that Canada values its natural wealth and knows how to take care of it -- for us, for our children, and for the world.

Justin Trudeau, a master's student in environmental geography at McGill University, prepared this article with information from the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society. He spoke about the Nahanni at the launch of CPAWS' national "Nahanni Forever" tour in Toronto on November 7, 2005.