Information Bulletin
CANADA’S 42nd NATIONAL PARK NOW FORMALLY ESTABLISHED
OTTAWA, ONTARIO, December 1st, 2005 - Canada’s 42nd national park, Torngat Mountains National Park Reserve of Canada, was officially established today when the Labrador Inuit Land Claims Agreement took effect.
The new park reserve - the first to be established in Labrador - will open to visitors in 2006. The park reserve protects approximately 9,600 square kilometres of Labrador’s arctic wilderness, and offers Canadians a wide range of exciting opportunities and experiences. Visitors will be able to view a variety of wildlife, notably caribou, polar bears and birds, including the peregrine falcon and golden eagle, and to enjoy wilderness-oriented recreational activities such as hiking, climbing and kayaking. The establishment of Torngat Mountains National Park Reserve will help to preserve this unique region of Canada - from its ecosystems to its breathtaking fjords and rugged mountains - in its natural state for generations to come.
The formal creation of the park was set in motion last January, when the Government of Canada, the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, and the Labrador Inuit Association signed three critical agreements - the Labrador Inuit Land Claims Agreement, a Memorandum of Agreement for a National Park Reserve of Canada and a National Park of Canada in the Torngat Mountains, and the Labrador Inuit Park Impacts and Benefits Agreement - in Nain, Newfoundland and Labrador.
The land claims agreement and the impacts and benefits agreement ensure that the establishment of the park reserve will offer economic and employment opportunities to local Inuit communities, and that the Inuit will have a significant voice in the management of the park reserve. The Memorandum of Agreement set out the terms under which the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador transferred the control and the administration of the lands set aside to create the park reserve to Canada.
The national park reserve extends from Saglek Fjord in the south, to the very northern tip of Labrador; and from the provincial boundary with Quebec in the west, to the waters of the Labrador Sea in the east.
It is expected that the national park reserve will move to full national park status in the near future, when a Park Impacts and Benefits Agreement is completed with the Nunavik Inuit of northern Quebec, who also have a land claim to the area of the national park reserve that has been accepted for negotiation by Canada.
A national park reserve is an area that is set aside and protected under the provisions of the Canada National Parks Act pending the settlement of any outstanding Aboriginal land claims. Once all Aboriginal land claims are resolved, park reserves are accorded national park status.
|
