The following are notes from councilor Candus Graffunder on a update she gave to Clearwater town council on plans to apply for UNESCO World Heritage status for Wells Gray Park and its volcanoes:

Re: Wells Gray UNESCO Status Update

Through researching several UNESCO documents and various correspondences with John Pinkerton, international programs manager for Parks Canada, several facts have become apparent:

· All contact with the UN must go through the federal government.

· Parks Canada handles all UNESCO applications and the tentative list for the federal government, even if sites are not in the National Park system. John Pinkerton’s office handles the files and process.

· The tentative list was last updated in 2004, before that 1980.  125 sites were reviewed over a 2-year period with 10 ending up being added to Canada’s tentative list.

· The tentative list will next be updated in 2014, with the selection process starting in 2012 or so.

·12 sites are already on file for the next review of the list. 

· Wells Gray Park now has a file going.

· UNESCO has stated it will be looking for more “natural” sites in the future, in order to even out the list, as there are already many “cultural” sites.

Parks Canada is only willing to put sites that have an almost guaranteed chance of attaining the designation on the list. Sites must have superlative qualities (be the best examples in the world).

· Comparisons to similar sites and a global comparative analysis must be done.

· Canada only puts in one application

per year (at most) for World Heritage

Site designation.

· The application process would be managed by Parks Canada but the actual application would probably be done the provincial and regional governments.

· Joggins application was a 200-page dossier taking two years to complete. It was a collaboration of different levels of government and many specialists. The funding came from a provincial economic development fund.

· The application must be in UNESCO language and cover everything from the natural history and significance of the feature being recognized to long-term management plans and tourism strategies.  Basically the more information the better. 

· As long as the features being recognized and protected are not compromised, the management plan can be pretty open. Current and or new activities can take place and new infrastructure can be built.

· World Heritage status can be taken away through mismanagement.

· The criteria Wells Gray would best suit is “criterion viii” of the Operational Guidelines for World Heritage (2005), which states that sites: be outstanding examples representing major stages of earth’s history, including the record of life, significant ongoing geological processes in the development of landforms, or significant geomorphic or physiographic features.

After much thought and discussion we believe the next steps should include a public open-house information session to be scheduled sometime next spring. We will continue our discussions with the many stakeholders: District of Clearwater, Wells Gray Country, TNRD, provincial government, Parks Canada, B.C. Parks, and of course UNESCO to continue our research on the process and for our application. We hope to have a tentative list proposal to be submitted to Parks Canada sometime in late 2009.