About the Petition
Environmental Organizations Petition UNESCO
In June 2008 eleven leading environmental groups in Canada and the U.S. wrote to the UNESCO's World Heritage Centre asking that proposed energy developments along British Columbia's Flathead River be investigated as threats to the Waterton-Glacier World Heritage Site.
Recently UNESCO agreed to consider this petition at the 33rd session of the World Heritage Committee in Seville, Spain from June 22nd to 30th. Representatives from Wildsight and the National Parks Conservation Association will be attending the meetings to testify.
- May 2009 Letter to World Heritage Committee
- May 2009 Press Release - UNESCO Considers "World Heritage Site in Danger" for Waterton-Glacier
- May 2009 Press Release Backgrounder
- May 2009 Globe and Mail Article
World Heritage Sites
The UNESCO World Heritage Committee (WHC) seeks to encourage the identification, protection and preservation of cultural and natural heritage sites around the world. Over 193 countries are party to an international treaty called the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, adopted by UNESCO in 1972. To date, 878 properties of outstanding universal value to humanity have been designated by committee as World Heritage Sites.
World Heritage Sites in Danger
The World Heritage Committee also identifies sites that are threatened by development, neglect or other impacts. Today, 30 sites are considered to be in danger. In June of 2008, an international coalition of 11 conservation organizations from the United States and Canada asked the World Heritage Commission to prepare a report to determine if a proposed coal mine in the Canadian headwaters of Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park warrants the listing of this, the world's first peace park, as an endangered world heritage site.
What You Can Do
Over 50,000 letters and emails have already been sent to key officials in British Columbia and Canada. Please send an email or fax to British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell (premier@gov.bc.ca or 250.387.0087) urging British Columbia to respect international law by establishing permanent protections for this special area. Tell him Canada should not allow industrial energy extraction in the headwaters of the Flathead River.
Send an email or fax to Canadian Minister of the Environment Jim Prentice (Minister@ec.gc.ca or 819.953.0279) urging the Canadian Federal Government to respect international law and appoint an international review panel to study the impacts of the proposed Cline coal mine on Waterton and Glacier National Parks and this unique ecosystem.