NEWS ON THE BIG WILD
United Nations Goes to Bat for the Flathead
by theolamb | July 28, 2010Back in September, 2009, UNESCO, the United Nation’s Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization made the trek to the Flathead River Valley. This week, UNESCO released their findings in a report.
The UN is recommending permanent protection of the Flathead River Valley, so that it may become part of the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park in Alberta and Montana. The Alberta and Montana park areas have World Heritage Site status and the UN recommends that BC and Canadian government assign equivalent ecological protection to the Flathead.
The story of the report hit the wire earlier this week and news of the UN’s recommendation has reverberated around the world, including the CBC:
“Conservationist groups, including the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, say a February agreement between B.C. and Montana to ban mining and oil and gas development in the valley is a good first step but doesn't go far enough.
They say the region has one of the most diverse concentrations of wildlife in B.C. and needs further protection.
The report, being released this week in Brazil, is the result of a UN mission to the region in September 2009 at the urging of conservationists. Like Clayoquot Sound and the Stein River Valley before it, the East Kootenays Flathead Valley has been an environmental battleground for years.”
If you're interested in the campaign to protect the Flathead River Valley, click here to take action.
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