Thiessen speaks at ‘For Peat’s Sake’ Event

CPAWS’ Ron Thiessen was a guest speaker today at the Manitoba Legislative Building at a gathering organized to address a proposed peat mine in Hecla/Grindstone provincial park and to express the importance of peatlands. His key messages were:

• Industrial activity is not appropriate in parks, including peat mining. All industrial activities should be legally banned in parks.

• Big-scale peatland protection is required to save Lake Winnipeg as peatlands purify and regulate the flow of water entering the lake.

• Globally, peatlands store more carbon per acre than any other terrestrial ecosystem and as such need to be conserved to slow the negative affects of climate change.

• Establishing large protected areas needs to be a key objective of the upcoming Manitoba Boreal Peatlands Stewardship Strategy.

• Protecting a high percentage of Manitoba’s peatlands from industrial activities needs to be a primary objective of the upcoming Manitoba Boreal Peatlands Stewardship Strategy.

• It’s important that Manitobans let the Premier of Manitoba know how they feel about industrial activities in parks and protecting peatlands. Please send an email with your message to premier@leg.gov.mb.ca.