Northwest Territories protected area includes pipeline corridor

Gary Park, PNA Canadian correspondent

The likely corridor for a proposed Mackenzie Valley natural gas pipeline is not expected to be jeopardized by a Canadian government decision to place 10,000 square miles of the Northwest Territories off-limits to energy and mineral exploitation.

The Edehzhine land, near Fort Simpson, Northwest Territories, is now the subject of a five-year interim protection plan pending the completion of a permanent strategy for the ecologically sensitive area.

But the government, in setting aside the area, has said that whatever measures are taken they will not interfere with planning for a Mackenzie Valley natural gas pipeline corridor at the western edge of Edehzhine.

The pressure to protect the area’s cultural and ecological values has come from First Nations, the World Wildlife Fund Canada, Ducks Unlimited Canada and the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society.

A spokesman for the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers said the industry is confident the government will allow for full consultation before final decisions are taken.

Pete Ewins, World Wildlife Fund Canada’s director of Arctic conservation, said the government has given a “very important indication” that other areas along with Mackenzie Valley can also be set aside prior to industrial development, such as construction of a pipeline.