Gros Morne National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site treasure on the island of Newfoundland, Canada.
- Gros Morne National Park of Canada was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987, for the following highlights.
- Please click here to see the video about Gros Morne National Park, which showcases the “spectacularly raw and enigmatic beauty of an exotic and ancient physical environment, unlike any other location on earth. Its a place where you not only discover a new world, but a little piece of yourself along the way.“
- “Gros Morne National Park protects 1,805 square kilometres of western Newfoundland’s coastal lowlands and towering Long Range Mountains.
- The park is world-renowned for its geological features and its pristine natural beauty.
- Gros Morne encircles several small communities, and includes highland and lowland forests, huge freshwater fjords, hundreds of lakes and ponds, extensive bogs, rock barrens, towering cliffs, and rugged coastline.
- Visitors can hike through wild, uninhabited mountains or camp by the sea, or boat between the 700 metre-high cliffs of a freshwater fjord carved out by glaciers.
- Beautiful waterfalls, marine inlets, sea stacks, sandy beaches, and colourful nearby fishing villages complete the phenomenal natural and cultural surroundings of Gros Morne National Park of Canada.“
However, there is an immediate threat to Gros Morne. Exploratory drilling, “fracking” for oil and industrialization is being proposed metres from the park.
- Oil drilling and fracking are being proposed right beside Gros Morne National Park.
- Fracking could contaminate local air, water and soil, create constant noise and heavy truck traffic, and harm wildlife and people.
- “Although there will be no drilling on park land, drill sites are planned within metres of the park boundary in communities within and around the national park.
- Potential threats to the park include
- the contamination of huge amounts of water required by the fracking process,
- the injection of toxic chemicals deep into the ground with the potential for groundwater or marine contamination,
- intense trucking activities on park roads,
- the flaring of waste natural gas,
- and the noise, smell, and industrial activity of an intensive drilling operation.
- Industrializing the Gros Morne coastline would not only threaten the remarkable ecosystems of this World Heritage Site, it would threaten the vital regional and provincial tourism economy which relies on the pristine natural beauty of Gros Morne’s coast and mountains to attract visitors from across Canada and around the world.“
The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) is already working with concerned local citizens in an effort to prevent this.
- In the following letter, CPAWS is asking for our help to:
- protect its pristine natural beauty that it’s recognized for internationally;
- urge governments to keep the park and surrounding area free of oil drilling and fracking; and
- please click on the “Send a letter now!” button below to send a message to Canada’s Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, and Newfoundland and Labrador’s Premier Kathy Dunderdale, to let them know what you think!
“Gros Morne National Park, one of Canada’s treasures, is under threat.
YOU can help!Gros Morne National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site treasure on the island of Newfoundland. Its striking scenery and geology attracts thousands of visitors from around the world. However, proposed oil exploration metres from the park boundary is threatening Gros Morne’s future.
Send a letter now!
Right now, the park is threatened by an oil company proposal to drill a series of exploration wells along the west coast of Newfoundland, using hydraulic fracturing (fracking) to extract oil. The toxic chemicals from the fracking process may contaminate the water, air and soil. This industrial activity, including heavy truck traffic, would also put the region’s sustainable tourism industry at risk.
We don’t want to see our beloved Gros Morne turned into an industrialized landscape. We want to protect its pristine natural beauty that it’s recognized for internationally. CPAWS and concerned local citizens are urging governments to keep the park and surrounding area free of oil drilling and fracking.
Your voice is needed to save Gros Morne. Take a moment to send a message to Canada’s Prime Minister and Newfoundland and Labrador’s Premier to let them know what you think!
Thanks to generous supporters like you, we’re able to launch this campaign today.For more details, click here.“
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