Some overall thoughts
Much of what we have blogged about to date has been very specific to Waterton-Glacier, but I think it is important to take a step back and think for a moment on the broader context of World Heritage, which is so much more real to me now that I am attending a meeting.
Above all, the very concept of World Heritage is that there are universal values, both cultural and environmental that are shared by all people. This paradigm is both powerful and important.
As an institution, the United Nations was born out of the ashes of the Second World War, when humanity realized that we had the technological prowess to wage war in ever more destructive ways. The was the beacon call for a global forum to provide for security and the exchange of ideas.
The World Heritage Convention is just one of many Conventions within the United Nations, but it is an important one because it is the embodiment of inclusiveness, bringing together people from all over the world to discuss humanity's most special places and ensure their protection.
It is a vison that we can all be proud of.
Will Hammerquist
Chairman James Steele Jr. Video Address to the State Parties of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee
Draft Resolution
We have seen the draft resolution for the Waterton-Glacier site. The document contains some positive items-and it also includes some items that could improve the document.
There are some strong recommendations that are intended to prevent the site from ending up on the "In Danger" list, which is the most important aspect of this effort. See below:
Something that is not noted in this report is indigenous concerns. Check out this video to hear them.
The Canadian and American delegations have been working on a new version of these recommendations, and the report will be open for discussion during the meetings in the next few days. Lets hope that something is added to recognize the concerns of the first nations of the area. Stay tuned for updates.
Opening Ceremonies
The 33rd World Heritage Committee meetings opened in style last night in Sevilla Spain.
Afterwards a grand dinner was served in the courtyard of the FIBES conference centre. Check out the pictures below.
I sat with representatives from Germany, Italy and Greece. Will shared a table with the delegations from Spain, Madagascar and Brazil.
It was great to talk to different nationalities about the concerns we have for the Waterton-Glacier site. Most everyone was surprised to learn that Canada is considering mines in the headwaters of a World heritage site.
Opening Ceremonies
Arrival in Sevilla
We finally have arrived in Sevilla and just checked into our hotel.
The high speed train ride from Madrid went smooth this morning, very smooth!
Our hotel is nice and quiet and is only a block from the conference centre where we will be meeting for the next 10 days.
The location of the conference centre is in a bit of an odd location on the eastern outskirts of the city. I cant wait to get down to the town core to check out this historic city.
Coalition petitioning for Glacier Park protections
By MICHAEL JAMISON of the Missoulian
WEST GLACIER - Glacier National Park and its neighbor to the north are endangered by mining proposals, and the international community must intervene to protect the region's natural and cultural heritage.
That's the message being delivered this week by tribal leaders, community organizers, business interests and conservationists, whose concerns will be aired at the 33rd annual meeting of the United Nations World Heritage Committee.
“Our petition,” said Will Hammerquist, “asks the World Heritage Committee to hear the concerns of local communities and indigenous peoples by recognizing the threat these projects pose to a globally significant ecosystem.”
Hammerquist works for the National Parks Conservation Association, which joined a dozen other groups in petitioning for the endangered status.
Glacier, along with adjacent Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada, was named a World Heritage Site in 1995, by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. At the time, UNESCO recognized the region for its “outstanding universal value.”
As two of the 157 signatories to the World Heritage treaty, Hammerquist said, both the United States and Canada accepted certain conservation obligations. But Canada has failed to meet those, he said, by moving ahead with controversial coal and coalbed methane energy development plans in southeastern British Columbia, on the borders of the parks.
Last year, NPCA joined a bi-national coalition representing a half-million Americans and Canadians, asking for a UNESCO review. Currently, only 30 World Heritage sites around the globe are listed as endangered. None is in North America.
In the past, however, endangered listings have helped to deter development on the edges of both Everglades and Yellowstone national parks.
The coalition, Hammerquist said, was somewhat surprised that UNESCO agreed to hear the petition, and he was even more surprised when he was selected to present it this week in Spain. Joining him will be Ryland Nelson, of the Canadian group Wildsight.
“We're honored that the World Heritage Committee has placed our concerns on the meeting agenda,” Nelson said. “Our petition puts forth a conclusive case that strip mines and coalbed mining in the headwaters of the Flathead River will harm the Waterton-Glacier Peace Park - a World Heritage site that Canadians are proud to share with the U.S.”
The men - who have long advocated for protections based on environmental grounds - also will carry an address from James Steele Jr., chairman of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.
Steele, in his video presentation, stresses cultural reasons for protection, saying “the area is a traditional area for us, as tribes.”
In addition to providing fishing and hunting grounds, he said, the region remains “a very important area for cultural and religious reasons.”
Steele's reservation encompasses the southern half of Flathead Lake, where Canadian waters settle after flowing south into Montana, along Glacier Park's western edge.
Millions, Steele said, have been spent protecting water quality there, and the proposed mining puts that effort at risk.
“This,” he said, “is our homeland. ... We don't have another homeland. This is it.”
Hammerquist isn't expecting the World Heritage Committee to actually list Glacier-Waterton as endangered (only 30 of 880 worldwide are), but he hopes the international community will put political pressure on Canada to protect the region. A site visit from UNESCO would be welcomed, he said, as would some “positive guidance and recommendations.”
“The World Heritage Committee cannot stop British Columbia from mining in the Flathead,” Hammerquist said, but it can influence outcomes.
“This is an opportunity to present the concerns of local communities, first nations, and people who care about Waterton-Glacier and the Flathead River, to the global community.
The timing is good, he said, as the world watches for Glacier Park's 100th birthday and the arrival of the Vancouver Winter Olympics, both in 2010.
The Waterton-Glacier complex is the world's first international peace park, and is listed as a U.N. Biosphere Reserve. But for nearly three decades, Canadian wildlands west of Waterton have also been eyed for energy development, creating an ongoing international debate.
Most recently, Nelson said, a proposal has emerged from Cline Mining Corp., to remove an entire mountaintop, digging out 40 million tons of coal and depositing waste rock into Foisey Creek, a headwaters stream of the Flathead River.
Others are exploring for phosphate, gold and coalbed methane.
Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., often has been at the center of the discussion, and two years ago he requested a similar “endangered” listing.
“Senator Baucus and his staff have done great work,” Hammerquist said, “working with the State Department and Interior, moving this ball forward. We've had tremendous political support on this issue.”
Hammerquist and Nelson have established a new Web site, savewatertonglacier.com, and will be blogging from Spain throughout the weeklong meeting, in addition to posting pictures and video from the conference. It is, Nelson said, critical to generate international awareness, as the landscape has such international significance.
It is home to several endangered species, he said, and was recognized by National Geographic magazine as “one of the most diverse and ecologically intact natural ecosystems in the temperate zones of the world.” Canadian Geographic described it as “a nursery, incubating wildlife that disperses and repopulates neighboring habitats.”
It is home, Nelson said, to the highest density of grizzly bears in the interior of North America.
“The current land use plan for the Canadian portion of the Flathead Valley prioritizes mining and energy extraction over all other uses,” he said. “Until British Columbia changes the land-use plan for the Canadian Flathead Valley, the Waterton-Glacier World Heritage site will be in danger.”
As will those who live below.
The mine, tribal chairman Steele said in his address, will certainly produce pollutants. Those pollutants, in turn, “will definitely go downstream. And we're downstream.”
SOURCE: http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2009/06/22/news/local/news03.txt
Almost made it
After a successful 24+ hour travel day through Minnesota and Amsterdam to Madrid Spain we got a bit behind schedule and missed the last train to Seville.
view from the plane
We will be heading out first thing in the morning to register for the meetings and get settled into our hotel. Still lots of work to do to prepare for the 10 days of meetings that we are just heading into.
UNESCO help sought for US-Canada border parks
Two parks along the U.S.-Canada border in the Northern Rockies are up for consideration to receive special attention by a UNESCO committee meeting in Spain this week.
The state of conservation at Glacier National Park in Montana and Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta is on the agenda for the meeting of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee. That meeting in Seville, Spain, is scheduled to open on Monday and continue for a week.
The Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Eleven groups want it declared a World Heritage Site in Danger.
The groups say Waterton-Glacier is at risk from potential coal mining in southeastern British Columbia. A provincial official, Bill Bennett, says there's no basis for concern.
SOURCE:
International Attention Sought For Border Parks
SUSAN GALLAGHER, Associated Press Writer
The state of conservation at two Northern Rockies national parks near a place eyed for possible coal mining will be reviewed by a UNESCO committee meeting in Spain this week.
Groups that say Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, consisting of a U.S. park and a Canadian park, is at risk hope the meeting in Seville, Spain, will bring their concern some global attention. They've petitioned UNESCO to declare the peace park endangered. But a lawmaker in the Canadian province of Alberta rejects any suggestion that coal mining or other industry threatens environmental quality in a slice of North America known for stunning alpine scenery and extraordinary wildlife habitat.
Glacier National Park in Montana and Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta, jointly the peace park, are among several dozen places worldwide whose conservation status is on the agenda for the UNESCO World Heritage Committee's Seville meeting scheduled to open Monday and continue for a week.
The UN Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization in 1995 declared Waterton-Glacier a World Heritage Site, a designation bestowed on 878 places worldwide to recognize extraordinary cultural or natural resources. Now the Washington, D.C.-based National Parks Conservation Association, Canadian environmental group Wildsight and nine other organizations have petitioned UNESCO to declare the Northern Rockies parklands a World Heritage Site in Danger.
An unsuccessful petition for endangered status a few years ago presented concern about climate change and its effects on the parks. The new petition is tied to potential coal and coal-bed methane extraction in southeastern British Columbia.
"This is a serious request for UNESCO to recognize the perpetual threat posed to these parks ... by various mining and mineral extraction proposals," Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., wrote in a January letter to Canada's ambassador to the United States.
About 30 World Heritage Sites have been declared endangered, a designation that can heighten sensitivity about a locale and raise its profile.
The National Parks Conservation Association and Wildsight, which sent representatives to Seville, say water pollution in Waterton-Glacier is among the risks from potential coal mining and coal-bed methane work in southeastern British Columbia. The Flathead River system spans the international border and the North Fork of the Flathead forms Glacier's western boundary.
Officials in the provincial government say no projects will be permitted without meeting rigorous environmental requirements.
"There are no imminent threats to the Flathead Valley," said Bill Bennett, the British Columbia minister of community and rural development and a provincial legislator. The valley, also dubbed the Crown of the Continent, encompasses a swath of southeastern British Columbia and northwestern Montana. Canada's Cline Mining Corp. has been looking at possible coal-mine development in the valley.
Bennett said the call for UNESCO action is part of a larger effort to have the Canadian Flathead declared a park.
"It's the same old group employing the same old tactics," he said Friday. "Let's tell everybody in the world that the Flathead Valley on the Canadian side is at imminent risk, and do something that will help us get a national park."
Bennett said his constituents don't support mining in the Flathead Valley and neither does he, but establishing a park is unwise because it would make land off limits to popular activities such as hunting and snowmobiling.
Wildsight's Ryland Nelson, who was going to Seville with Will Hammerquist from the Whitefish, Mont., office of the National Parks Conservation Association, said designation of a Flathead park would be a good move but is not the petition's underpinning. The petition is about protecting Waterton-Glacier, Nelson said Friday.
Calls seeking comment Thursday about Cline's interest in the Flathead Valley were not returned by the company's Toronto office.
A spokeswoman for BP, Melanie Ostopowich in Calgary, Alberta, said the energy company is part way through a three- to five-year period of environmental studies for its potential Mist Mountain coal-bed methane project in southeastern British Columbia.
The U.S. government's delegation at the Seville meeting was to be led by Dan Wenk, acting director of the National Park Service, with officials of the U.S. State Department and the Interior Department among the delegates. Whether Wenk would speak on the Waterton-Glacier matter was uncertain, said Stephen Morris, international affairs chief for the Park Service.
SOURCE: http://cbs4denver.com/wireapnewswy/Groups.seek.international.2.1053529.html