Cali, Colombia – On Thursday a delegation of Indigenous representatives from Keepers of the Water (KOW) in Alberta arrived in Colombia for COP 16 on biodiversity to tell delegates and world leaders that Alberta is mismanaging its fresh water and must commit to no more tailings ponds. The representatives, from Alberta and Northwest Territories, will highlight the need to protect freshwater to protect biodiversity.
“Our work to protect water was started nearly 20 years ago by Indigenous peoples from the Deh Cho (Mackenzie River) Basin, a globally important watershed covering almost 20 per cent of Canada’s land mass,” said Jesse Cardinal, KOW Executive Director. “Alberta is home to some of the freshest water on the planet, but government is squandering and polluting the resource and failing our communities.”
While Canada supports international efforts to advance the UN Convention on Biological Diversity it is not clear that domestic action by Canadian governments will do enough to protect the water that is essential to maintaining healthy ecosystems. Governments have failed to act for more than fifty years, but to date, no regulations exist to clean up the tailings ponds or protect the water.
“We continue to see large scale water withdrawals for oil and gas operations and a growing tailings crisis in Alberta without any plan to deal it, and this is in addition to the cumulative impacts of climate change like increased contaminants and drought,” said Cleo Reece, a member of the KOW Elders Wisdom Council and COP 16 delegate. “Water is life, protecting water is essential to maintaining biodiversity, and Indigenous peoples must be decision-makers in doing this work.”
KOW’s delegation at COP 16 will work with other Indigenous delegates and allied organizations to push for the protection of Indigenous rights and for Indigenous peoples to be decision-makers on issues that impact biodiversity and the environment.
Water is a Sacred gift, an essential element that sustains and connects all life. It is not a commodity to be bought or sold. All people share an obligation to cooperate in ensuring that Water, in all its forms, is protected and conserved with regard to the needs of all living things today and for the generations yet to come.
About The Company
The Keepers of the Water movement was born during the first Keepers of the Water Gathering in Liidlii Kui, Denendeh/Fort Simpson, NWT, held on September 7, 2006. This Gathering was called because the northern Deh Cho (Mackenzie) River Basin people were becoming alarmed by reports of increased turbidity and toxicity and decreased volume of water in their watershed. They wanted to know what was happening to the water and the ecosystems that relied upon it.
Meeting on the shores of the great Deh Cho River, a gathering of Elders from the North created the Keepers of the Water Declaration:
