Canada signs on to continent-wide wilderness protection deal

'...The Canadian government is being singled out at the Merida conference for its decision to expand the Nahanni National Park Reserve of Canada, making the World Heritage site and the sixth largest national park in the world...."


Canada signs on to continent-wide wilderness protection deal

(CP) – 1 day ago [excerpts]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5gMxeE3vmmTAq4qru_10Rtkm2-5kw

MERIDA, Mexico — The federal government has agreed to what's being billed as an unprecedented commitment to wilderness conservation in North America.

Environment Minister Jim Prentice today announced he's signed a memorandum of understanding with the United States and Mexico that binds the three countries together in defending uninhabited spaces.

Much of the recent debate over the environment has been framed around climate change and Prentice says the Conservative government and Canada as a whole have not received enough recognition for conservation efforts.

He said Parks Canada has roughly 300,000 square kilometres of land under protection, a space bigger than many European countries.

It is Europeans who count themselves among the Conservative government's biggest international critics on climate change, especially over its abandonment of the Kyoto Protocol targets.

That conservation is thriving is something "Canadians need to crow about it a bit more," Prentice said Saturday.