(Montreal) 10 years ago the government wanted to extract hydrocarbons there and today Anticosti was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Published at 10:12 am. Updated at 10:44 a.m
Stéphane Blais The Canadian Press
The UNESCO World Heritage Committee announced that Anticosti is now part of the World Heritage Site at its 45th session on Tuesday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
According to André Desrochers, scientific director of the steering committee for the Anticosti candidacy, the island is “truly the best natural laboratory on the planet for studying the fossils and sedimentary layers of the first mass extinction on Earth.”
If you chose Anticosti, it was primarily because there you will find “the most complete fossil record of marine life at that time, covering 10 million years of Earth’s history, i.e. from the Upper Ordovician to the Lower Silurian, 447”. 437 million years ago,” says the technical data sheet submitted to UNESCO.
Studying this historical period would allow us to better understand and learn from the significant climate changes the planet was experiencing at this time.
The quantity, diversity and state of preservation of the fossils would be exceptional and would enable “world-class scientific work,” underlines the technical data sheet submitted to UNESCO.
“We need to prepare to receive many more visitors and our reception infrastructure needs to be improved. We need better transport services and new accommodation, but also other basic infrastructure and services. A world-class interpretive center will also welcome visitors, share knowledge with the public and highlight the exceptional universal value of Anticosti,” said Anticosti Mayor Hélène Boulanger in a press release.
The mayor thanked “from the bottom of my heart everyone who believed in this project and worked hard to make it a reality.”
Safe from hydrocarbon exploitation
Remember, this huge island in the middle of the St. Lawrence River, considered a hunting paradise, has been the subject of desire and controversy over the past decade. Oil and gas companies wanted to exploit hydrocarbon resources with the blessing of the then Marois government.
The Couillard government then imposed a moratorium on exploration for the search for and exploitation of hydrocarbons in 2017. The state of Quebec then had to pay the companies a total of around 62 million in compensation.
Located in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in Quebec, Anticosti covers an area of 7,932.79 km2, including more than 550 km of coastline.
The only village in the municipality of L’Île-d’Anticosti is Port-Menier and has about 200 inhabitants.
“Anticosti has always been an integral part of our Nitassinan, our ancestral lands and our identity. We are proud of the work we have done with our Anti-Coast and North Coast partners to ensure its Outstanding Universal Value is fully recognized. We will write the rest of history together,” said Jean-Charles Piétacho, Innu chief of the Ekuanitshit community and early partner in the UNESCO project, in a press release.