International cooperation highlighted at summit

Last week, 29 representatives from conservation initiatives across the globe convened at Glacier Park Lodge in East Glacier to participate in Hands Across Borders: an International Workshop for Transboundary Conservation Practitioners. Representatives from six continents were present.

Global transboundary conservation projects are reserves, parks or conservation initiatives in areas that span national borders, as Waterton- Glacier International Peace Park does.

As the first ever International Peace Park in the world, Waterton-Glacier was the ideal host for the gathering, Park officials said. Since 1932, Waterton-Glacier has served as an example, symbol and catalyst for transboundary conservation initiatives worldwide.

“We chose to host this workshop because one thing that Glacier brings is that it is the first International Peace Park,” said Glacier National Park Superintendent Jeff Mow.

The National Park Service Centennial and Hands Across the Border ceremony provide an excellent background as well by bringing in Rotarians and representatives to meet and celebrate. The Rotarians in Canada and in the U.S. first promoted the idea of a Waterton-Glacier Peace Park.

“Symbolically reaching across [the border] is an activity that represents the full maturity of what it means to be a peace park,” Mow said.

Several of the parks in attendance at the summit are still struggling or still in the conceptual phase, Mow noted.

Attendees on Wednesday had the chance to see Canadian and U.S. transboundary stewardship in action on a field excursion. The trip highlighted the North American Buffalo Treaty. The group saw firsthand the efforts being made to reintroduce bison to their native range on Blackfeet lands and in the Waterton-Glacier Peace Park.

The bison being reintroduced are the descendants of a small number of orphaned calves that were rounded up in 1873 and transported to Elk Island National Park in Alberta.

Discussion focused on the roles of indigenous people and local communities in serving as the catalyst for the initiative. It was the Blackfeet and Salish people who removed the bison in an effort to protect them in the 1870s, Leona Tracey, Iinnii (the Blackfeet word for “buffalo”) initiative field coordinator, explained.

“It was a difficult decision for the Blackfeet people to round them up. It was heartbreaking to let them go, but they went to a reservation and were protected,” Tracey said.

The bison herd’s return on April 4 of this year was emotional for many members of the Blackfeet.

“It was very much a day of repatriation of culture,” Tracey said.

In discussing the challenges facing the parks represented at the summit, Mow said Glacier’s biggest challenge is finding the next level.

“It’s finding the next transformational level, of how we approach an issue,” he said. “Neither Glacier or Waterton alone can carry a buffalo herd.” Partnership between Waterton, Glacier, the Blackfeet, and the three tribes north of the border that make up the Blackfeet Confederation will be a key component of the successful reintroduction of the species.

“We have a great relationship with Parks Canada and the Blackfeet,” Mow said.

Creating a peace park is no small task, especially in other regions of the world.

There is hope to protect a biosphere on the border of Cameroon and Nigeria, but the two countries fought a border war only 20 years ago, so establishing trust is imperative. The hope is that international status will provide better protection for the area.

EcoPeace Middle East representative Gidon Bromberg is working to bring together environmentalists from Jordan, Palestine and Israel to protect shared environmental heritage. A major accomplishment, he said, was being able to get fresh water released for the first time in 50 years for a bird and wildlife sanctuary.

Cooperation at the government level was a common hurdle in many of the representatives’ introductions to their parks.

Theophile Zognau, who represented Sangha Tri-national Trust Fund on the borders of Congo, Cameroon, and Central African Republic, said that one of the park’s most urgent needs is to bring together the three governments.

Finding funding is another common struggle.

“We want to be learning from each other, learning what works. It’s an exchange of best practices, and we want it to be so successful that people want to replicate the summit,” Mow added.

Hands Across Borders workshops began on Sept. 13 and ran through Sept. 18.