After arousing the oil greed of governments and companies over the past decade, Anticosti Island could now be classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Trudeau government has just officially submitted the island’s candidacy, which is based on the exceptional value of its geology, which testifies to the first mass extinction of animal life on a global scale.
The application, which was forwarded by Parks Canada before the deadline of 1er February, is to be announced next week. Environment Ministers Steven Guilbeault and Benoit Charette will take part in the announcement, along with Quebec Minister of International Relations and La Francophonie, Nadine Girault, Anticosti Mayor Hélène Boulanger, and First Nations representatives.
Once the application is officially submitted, UNESCO will carry out an analysis of it for 18 months, in order to verify its relevance. It should include field visits.
“Mass Extinction”
Supported since 2017 by the federal government, the island’s candidacy is essentially based on the “outstanding universal value” and “worldwide recognition” of its geology. It must be said that we find on Anticosti the testimony of “the first massive extinction of animal life on a global scale”, mainly through its fossils.
“Anticosti Island is world renowned for its exceptional fossils from the period between the Upper Ordovician and the Lower Silurian. [il y a près de 445 millions d’années], which have no equivalent anywhere else on the planet. This period represents an important milestone in the history of the Earth, namely the first mass extinction of animal life on a global scale, “said a note published by Parks Canada.
Scientific Director of the Steering Committee for the UNESCO Candidature File, André Desrochers studied the geology and paleontology of Anticosti for several years. And according to what he has already argued at the Dutythe largest island in Quebec is downright “first in class” as a witness to this period.
The municipality of Anticosti believes that this UNESCO recognition could enable it to develop the tourist appeal of the largest island in Quebec, located in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Its area is 16 times larger than the island of Montreal.
Logging
In 2019, the continuation of logging raised concerns for Anticosti’s candidacy for UNESCO, when the Ministry of Forests, Wildlife and Parks rejected a project to protect the perimeter of the island, where we find the best fossiliferous sites.
André Desrochers was then formal: “Any UNESCO World Heritage site requires protective measures. It is absolutely essential, so much so that without these measures, the site will be refused”. The ministry finally accepted the implementation of this protective strip of one kilometer, from the shore towards the interior of the island.
Before that, the island had attracted the interest of the PQ government of Pauline Marois, which in 2014 launched an oil exploration program on the island. This project was finally abandoned in 2017 by the Liberal government of Philippe Couillard. The project cost the Quebec government $92 million, mainly to pay compensation to companies that were state partners in the shale oil research program.