Manitoba's government wants your opinion about preserving a great northern wilderness

Update March 30, 2023: The public consultation is now closed for Amisk.

The Manitoba government wants your opinion on extending protection on the Amisk Park Reserve — in the traditional territories of Nisichawayasihk, Tataskweyak, and O-Pipon-Na-Piwin Cree Nations — for another five years. 

Home to threatened boreal woodland caribou as well as moose, the Amisk Park Reserve is the only protected area in the Churchill River Uplands Ecoregion north of Thompson. Caring for nature is a critical step in supporting our society, and the Amisk Park Reserve protection contributes to that goal. 

Amisk is part of a larger effort. In December 2022, representatives from around the world came to Canada to set a new global goal to preserve our planet: 30 per cent of the lands and waters should be protected by 2030. Nearly 200 countries signed the agreement, including Canada. This is a big deal! Ensuring areas like Amisk remain protected and growing protected  areas is part of Manitoba’s global responsibility, yet the PC government of the province hasn’t said anything about the new protected area goal. 

Way back in 1995, the Amisk region was designated a provincial park, however the proper consultations with Indigenous communities did not take place and the area became a temporary park reserve. A full 28 years later the government still has not put the effort in to permanently designate this region. The current PC government is simply not putting enough time or resources towards fulfilling Indigenous consultations on protected areas. 

To preserve more of Manitoba in the right way, we need to establish Indigenous protected and conserved areas (IPCAs), as all of the province is Indigenous traditional territory. Pimachowin Aki and Fisher Bay Provincial Park are successful examples of IPCAs we’ve already here in Manitoba. Creating more IPCAs requires effort, energy and resources from the government. 

As we ask the Manitoba government to preserve Amisk, we should also ask for a commitment to reach the global protected areas goal, as well as the energy and resources to establish more Indigenous protected and conserved areas.

Read about the Manitoba government consultation here.