Wells Gray Park Seeks UNESCO World Heritage Status

Link to main article:

http://www.bclocalnews.com/bc_thompson_nicola/clearwatertimes/news/117440093.html

Clearwater Times 2011. Wells Gray Park seeks UNESCO World Heritage status. Black Press Group, Victoria, BC. Available from http://www.bclocalnews.com/bc_thompson_nicola/ clearwatertimes/news/117440093.html (accessed March 9, 2011).

Tourism Wells Gray 2010. Wells Gray Country British Columbia – Volcanoes – Waterfalls Wilderness and Wildlife. Tourism Wells Gray, Clearwater, BC. Available from http://www. wellsgray.ca/site/discovering-wells-gray/volcanos.html (accessed March 9, 2011).

UNESCO World Heritage Centre 2011. UNESCO World Heritage Centre – Official Site. UNESCO, Paris, France. Available from http://whc.unesco.org/ (accessed March 9, 2011).

          Wells Gray Provincial Park, one of the four largest parks in British Columbia covering 5400 km² in area, is known for its preservation of a pristine environment, which includes: forests, majestic mountains, rivers, lakes and breath-taking waterfalls, as well as various plant and animal species representative of B.C. The landscape of Wells Gray Park, formed by glaciers from the last ice age, includes the internationally significant volcanic features of the Wells Gray-Clearwater Volcanic Field that began forming about 3,500,000 years ago. It is because of this stunning volcanic landscape that the park was established in 1939. 

                                                                                 Tourism Wells Gray, 2010

            So amazing is the landscape of Wells Gray Park, that there are currently developments in establishing it as a UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) World Heritage Site. At the moment, a consultant is being hired to produce a development plan through the District of Clearwater and the provincial Community Tourism Opportunity program of Thompson Okanagan Tourism. Acquiring World Heritage Status from UNESCO would give the park international recognition, however it is a lengthy process because the World Heritage Committee only meets once a year to review nominations. In the meantime, the development plan will also seek UNESCO GeoPark status, which recognizes sites that are of important to earth sciences.

            An international treaty established in 1972 allowed UNESCO to drive developments to  “identify, protect and preserve cultural and natural heritage” globally that had outstanding value to humanity, and include involvement from communities around the world. In preserving these sites, many of which are of cultural importance, we are protecting irreplaceable sources of inspiration and education about the world’s past, as well as maintaining important ecosystem functions and services for future generations (i.e. these sites have ‘existence values’). The World Heritage List of sites includes 911 properties, some of which include: East Africa’s Serengeti, the Pyramids of Egypt, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef and, hitting close to home, the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks.

            First, nomination to become a World Heritage Site requires that a Tentative List be made of significant cultural and/or natural features of the landscape and after that, a Nomination file must be produced including one of those features. Next, the file is handed over the International Council on Monuments and Sites and the World Conservation Union for evaluation in order to provide recommendations to the World Heritage Committee. Finally, to be selected for the World Heritage List, the area in question must be of “outstanding universal value” and meet one or more of ten selection criteria (for more info, visit: http://whc.unesco.org/en/criteria). A few of the criteria that stood out to me as applying to Wells Gray Park were:

              vii.    “To contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance,”

            viii.     “To be outstanding examples representing major stages of earth's history, including the record of life, significant on-going geological processes in the development of landforms, or significant geomorphic or physiographic features,” and

                ix.    “To be outstanding examples representing significant on-going ecological and biological processes in the evolution and development of terrestrial, fresh water, coastal and marine ecosystems and communities of plants and animals.”

            According to this criteria, it seems there should almost be no problem in establishing Wells Gray Park as a World Heritage Site considering its outstanding pristine environment, in which humans can is still set foot while at the same time preserving these amazing and important geological processes (ex. erosion by waterfalls) and ecological and biological processes that still take place naturally. Coining Wells Gray Park as a World Heritage Site has its benefits in maintaining its conservation, providing an increase in revenue from tourism for cities close by, like Clearwater, and earning it international recognition. However, potential negative impacts must also be considered. Yes, Wells Gray will be known to the people of the world, but this also means that tourism in this park will bring a substantial increase in human activity, due largely to the fact that Wells Gray does allow human recreational activity, provided it is environmentally compatible. More people means more intensive management will be required in the area to ensure that the environment remains as it has all these years. In my opinion, the benefits would outweigh the costs as long as people respect that park as they have all these years and management is maintained.

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