Canada Enlarges Nahanni National Park Sixfold

The massive expansion increases the size of the park reserve by over six times. The world famous park reserve is now nearly seven times the size of the original one established in 1972 and more than three times larger than Yellowstone National Park in the United States.

"The Nahanni is the jewel of Canada's Boreal forest, and one of the world's greatest wilderness treasures. Canada has shown true global leadership by protecting it," said Eric Hebert-Daly, national executive director of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, CPAWS.

The McKenzie Mountains, South Nahanni River Valley in the Nahanni National Park. (Photo by Pradipta Ray)

"The elders of Nahanni Butte and the leaders of the Dehcho First Nations were determined to see this through," says Lani Cook, executive director of CPAWS Northwest Territories Chapter. "For the past nine years, we have been honored to work closely with them to get protection for the Nahanni."

The Nahanni National Park Reserve is located in the southwest corner of the Northwest Territories, in the traditional territory of the Dehcho First Nations. Until now, Nahanni has covered an area of 4,766 square kilometers (1,862 square miles) and encompassed only the lower reaches of the South Nahanni and Flat Rivers.

Nahanni’s new boundary will now protect over 30,000 km2 (12,000 square miles) of habitat for grizzly bears, woodland caribou and Dall’s sheep. It will protect the length of the South Nahanni River in the Dehcho, the highest mountains and largest glaciers in the Northwest Territories and the deepest canyons in Canada.

The globally unique caves, canyons, rock towers, poljes and sinkholes of the Nahanni North Karst will be inside the new park boundary.

"Nahanni is one of the great natural areas in the world," said Dr. John Weaver of the Wildlife Conservation Society Canada, who studied grizzly bears, woodland caribou, and Dall’s sheep in this remote region during 2002-2007. "The previous boundary was too narrow and too small for these big animals, and this expansion will protect critical habitat for these vulnerable wildlife species."

Canoeing on the Nahanni River above Virginia Falls (Photo by Mangrove Mike)

In his 2007 report, Dr. Weaver warned that major industrial developments across the Mackenzie River basin, including oil and gas development and mining, were imminent, so the need to address the problem of the park’s inadequate boundaries was urgent.

"The studies carried out by Dr. Weaver provided the solid scientific basis for revising the Park’s boundary to help ensure its ecological integrity," said Dr. Stephen Woodley, chief scientist for Parks Canada.

Besides the unique concentration of karst caves, the region also contains the deepest river canyons anywhere in Canada, which resemble sections of the Grand Canyon in the United States.

It also contains large hotsprings mounds that are similar to Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone National Park. And Virginia Falls in the center of the Park Reserve are twice as high as Niagara Falls. The United Nations recognized Nahanni National Park Reserve as the first UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The announcement of final boundaries comes nearly two years after Prime Minister Stephen Harper and former Environment Minister John Baird promised an expansion of the park, crowning years of collective work by Parks Canada, Dehcho First Nations and others to fulfill the dream of protecting the Greater Nahanni Ecosystem in the Dehcho.

"Canada is blessed with magnificent geography from coast to coast to coast, but none more spectacular than Nahanni Park," Harper said in Fort Simpson, in 2007, making his promise to enlarge the park. "This is arguably the most important act of environmental protection in a generation."

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