Canada's largest national park under threat. Here's why

Saturday, November 18, 2017, 6:37 PM - Scientists are sounding the alarm over Wood Buffalo National Park, with its outlook deteriorating significantly over the last three years thanks to climate change and human economic development.

The park, Canada's largest at more than 44,000 square kilometres, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It straddles the border between northern Alberta and the Northwest Territories, far away from Canada's major cities, but its remoteness apparently hasn't saved it from human impacts, according to a report by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

The IUCN rates the park's outlook as "significant concern," down from its status as "good with some concerns" in 2014 when it was last assessed. It's the only World Heritage Site in North America with that status, and only the Florida Everglades, rated as "critical" by the IUCN, is in worse shape on the continent.

"The combination of climate change and massive hydrological alteration has resulted in ecological, socio-economic and cultural impacts," the report says. "Simultaneously, the [Peace-Athabasca Delta] is at significant risk from upstream industrial development along both the Peace and the Athabasca Rivers, most strikingly from the expanding Alberta oil sands."

The report says scientists are concerned about potential oil sands impacts such as tailings ponds breaches, as well as budget cuts and loss of science capacity at Parks Canada, which manages the park.

Gros Beak Lake, Wood Buffalo National Park. Photo: Ansgar Walk/Wikimedia Commons

"Significant investment in better understanding and monitoring the impacts and risks from industrial development, including hydropower development is needed," the IUCN says. "As is enhanced water governance across jurisdictions and more meaningful of First Nations and Métis in the management and governance (decision-making) of the national park and its surroundings."

In an email to CBC News, Parks Canada's response to the IUCN report was mixed.

"In many cases, the conservation challenges stem from outside the national park boundaries, such as climate change," Parks Canada told the broadcaster, adding the report "does not take into account future management actions or Parks Canada's specific responsibilities in managing Wood Buffalo National Park in the face of these potential challenges."

Wood Buffalo National Park has been a World Heritage Site since 1983.

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SOURCES: UNESCO | IUCN | CBC News | Thumbnail Image