Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks World Heritage Site

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Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks
Canadian Rocky Moutain parks map.svg
Map of the Canadian Rocky Mountain parks
Location Canada
Coordinates 51°25′29″N116°28′47″W / 51.42472°N 116.47972°W / 51.42472; -116.47972 Coordinates: 51°25′29″N116°28′47″W / 51.42472°N 116.47972°W / 51.42472; -116.47972
Governing body Parks Canada and BC Parks
TypeNatural
Criteriavii, viii
Designated1984 (8th session)
Reference no. 304
Region Europe and North America
Canada location map 2.svg
Red pog.svg
Location of Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks in Canada
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Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks World Heritage Site (North America)

The Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks World Heritage Site is located in the Canadian Rockies. It consists of seven contiguous parks including four national parks:

Contents

and three British Columbia provincial parks:

The parks include mountains, glaciers, and hot springs and the headwaters of major North American river systems including:

The area is known for its natural environment and biological diversity. It includes the Burgess Shale site, a World Heritage Site in its own right from 1980 to 1984, when it was included in the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks WHS designation. [1] [2]

World Heritage Site

Commemorative plate Rocky Mountain World Heritage Site Plaque.jpg
Commemorative plate

In 1983 Canada nominated Banff, Jasper, Kootenay and Yoho national parks for inclusion on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. UNESCO accepted this nomination in 1984 on the basis of a recommendation by IUCN. The original nomination and IUCN's recommendation drew attention to the area's "exceptional natural beauty", "habitats of rare and endangered species" and its natural landforms such as mountain peaks, glaciers, lakes, canyons, limestone caves, and the unique Burgess Shale fossils. [3] That year the UNESCO World Heritage Committee "requested the Canadian authorities to consider adding the adjacent Provincial Parks of Mount Robson, Hamber, Mount Assiniboine and Kananaskis" [2] to the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks site. At a 1990 meeting, "the Committee welcomed the Canadian proposal to include, in the Rocky Mountains Parks site, Mount Robson, Hamber and Assiniboine Provincial Parks, following its request at its Eighth Session in 1984." [4] Kananaskis (renamed Peter Lougheed Provincial Park) has not been included within the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks World Heritage site.

See also

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Yoho National Park is a national park of Canada. It is located within the Rocky Mountains along the western slope of the Continental Divide of the Americas in southeastern British Columbia, bordered by Kootenay National Park to the south and Banff National Park to the east in Alberta. The word Yoho is a Cree expression of amazement or awe, and it is an apt description for the park's spectacular landscape of massive ice fields and mountain peaks, which rank among the highest in the Canadian Rockies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Banff National Park</span> National park in Alberta, Canada

Banff National Park is Canada's oldest national park, established in 1885 as Rocky Mountains Park. Located in Alberta's Rocky Mountains, 110–180 kilometres (68–112 mi) west of Calgary, Banff encompasses 6,641 square kilometres (2,564 sq mi) of mountainous terrain, with many glaciers and ice fields, dense coniferous forest, and alpine landscapes. The Icefields Parkway extends from Lake Louise, connecting to Jasper National Park in the north. Provincial forests and Yoho National Park are neighbours to the west, while Kootenay National Park is located to the south and Kananaskis Country to the southeast. The main commercial centre of the park is the town of Banff, in the Bow River valley.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canadian Rockies</span> Mountain range in Canada

The Canadian Rockies or Canadian Rocky Mountains, comprising both the Alberta Rockies and the B.C. Rockies, is the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains. It is the easternmost part of the Canadian Cordillera, which is the northern segment of the North American Cordillera, the expansive system of interconnected mountain ranges between the Interior Plains and the Pacific Coast that runs northwest–southeast from central Alaska to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Mexico.

Mount Robson Provincial Park Provincial park in British Columbia, Canada

Mount Robson Provincial Park is a provincial park in the Canadian Rockies with an area of 2,249 km². The park is located entirely within British Columbia, bordering Jasper National Park in Alberta. The B.C. legislature created the park in 1913, the same year as the first ascent of Mount Robson by a party led by Conrad Kain. It is the second oldest park in the provincial system. The park is named for Mount Robson, which has the highest point in the Canadian Rockies and is located entirely within the park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kootenay National Park</span> National park in British Columbia, Canada

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Bow Valley Provincial Park Provincial park in Alberta, Canada

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Hamber Provincial Park Provincial park in British Columbia, Canada

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Great Divide Trail A long-distance hiking trail

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Mount Burgess Mountain in Yoho NP, BC, Canada

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References

  1. "The Burgess Shale". Royal Ontario Museum . Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  2. 1 2 "World Heritage Committee: Eighth Ordinary Session". UNESCO. 1984. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  3. "Nomination to the World Heritage List" (PDF). UNESCO. 1984. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  4. "World Heritage Committee: Fourteenth Session". UNESCO. 1990. Retrieved 24 June 2012.