(Montreal) 10 years ago, the government wanted to extract hydrocarbons there and today, Anticosti has been added to the UNESCO world heritage list.
The UNESCO World Heritage Committee, meeting Tuesday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for its 45 session, announced that Anticosti is now part of the world heritage.
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 Anticosti was chosen, it is in particular because we find there “the most complete fossil record of marine life of the time covering 10 million years of the history of the Earth, that is to say from the Ordovician upper to the Lower Silurian, 447 to 437 million years ago,” according to the technical sheet presented to UNESCO.
Studying this period of history would allow us to better understand and learn from the significant climate changes that the planet experienced at this time.
The quantity, diversity and state of conservation of the fossils would be exceptional and would allow “world-class scientific work”, underlines the technical sheet presented to UNESCO.
“We must prepare to receive many more visitors, and our reception infrastructure must be upgraded. We need better transport services and a new accommodation offer, but also other basic infrastructure and services. A world-class Interpretation Center will also welcome visitors, share knowledge with the public and highlight the exceptional universal value of Anticosti,” explained the mayor of Anticosti, Hélène Boulanger, in a press release.
The mayor thanked “from the bottom of her heart all those who believed in this project and who worked hard to make it a reality.”
Safe from hydrocarbon exploitation
Remember that over the last decade, this immense island in the middle of the St. Lawrence, recognized as a hunting paradise, has been the subject of covetousness and controversy. Oil and gas companies wanted to exploit its hydrocarbon resources, with the blessing of the Marois government of the time.
The Couillard government then imposed a moratorium in 2017 on exploration to find and exploit hydrocarbons. The Quebec state subsequently had to compensate the companies for around 62 million, in total.
Anticosti is located in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence in Quebec and covers an area of 7932.79 km2including a coastline of more than 550 km.
The only village in the Municipality of L’Île-d’Anticosti is Port-Menier and it has approximately 200 inhabitants.
“Anticosti has always been an integral part of our Nitassinan, our ancestral land, and our identity. We are proud of the work we have accomplished with our Anti-Coastal and north-coastal partners to ensure that its exceptional universal value is fully recognized. We will write the rest of the story together,” declared Jean-Charles Piétacho, Innu chief of the Ekuanitshit community and early partner of the UNESCO project, in a press release.