Dr. Derek Ford

"“The Nahanni North Karst is the most accentuated and important example of subarctic karst anywhere on the planet. If mining were permitted in this area it would create serious hazards to the surface and ground waters, and to the flora and fauna in and around the South Nahanni River."

Derek Ford is a retired professor of Physical Geography and Geology at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario. He is a geomorphologist (student of landforms), hydrologist and groundwater geochemist specialising in "karst" landforms, which are those such as sinkholes and cave systems that are created by rock dissolution. He has conducted or supervised karst research throughout Canada and in many other nations and is considered a leading authority in the field.

In 1971 Parks Canada invited Ford to evaluate newly discovered caves in First Canyon, Nahanni National Park Reserve. In subsequent years he studied the geology, landforms and hydrology of all of the Park for Parks Canada, and explored and studied an extensive karst terrain that extends north of the present Park boundaries to Ram Canyon on the Ram River. The work within the Park was the basis for its being recognized as the first UNESCO World Heritage (natural) Site in 1979. (Read Dr. Ford's letter to the World Heritage Organization). The"Nahanni North Karst" is now recognized to be the most spectacular arctic or sub-arctic terrain on the planet.