Canada - Ireland - Transatlantic Cable Ensemble

"The Transatlantic Cable Ensemble is a transnational serial nomination comprising the shore-end termini of the world’s first permanent trans-oceanic submarine electric telegraph: the Eastern Terminus, Valentia Island, County Kerry, Ireland (two component parts) and the Western Terminus, Heart’s Content, Newfoundland, Canada (two component parts).

From 1857 to 1865 various attempts were made to lay a cable between Valentia and Newfoundland. These met with a mixture of brief technical success and commercial failure. Finally, in 1866, a successful and enduring connection was made and in 1868 a new permanent cable station was built at Knightstown on Valentia followed by one in 1875/76 at Heart’s Content. These two well-preserved cable stations, together with associated features at both sites and officers’ accommodations at Valentia, comprise the nominated property. At Valentia, the architecturally complete station does not contain its original equipment, while at Heart’s Content there is a complete set in-situ.

The first transatlantic telegraphic message of 1858 from the Slate Yard in Valentia to Newfoundland represents a turning point in world history. The successful permanent Valentia- Heart’s Content connection from July 1866 revolutionised global communications by the ability to instantly and accurately communicate between continents separated by oceans. The nineteenth century cable stations at both sites are outstanding surviving testimony to the genius and perseverance behind this remarkable scientific and engineering feat, which many at the time believed to be impossible."

Source: UNESCO WHS Tentative List

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Canada - Sirmilik National Park and Tallurutiup Imanga (proposed) National Marine Conservation Area

Sirmilik National Park and Lancaster Sound (proposed) National Marine Conservation Area is an exceptional representation of the high Arctic coastal ecosystem. The proposed property illustrates the outstanding cultural heritage of Paleo-Eskimo, Thule, Inuit and European peoples over the last three thousand years and exhibits a living culture that is integral to the surrounding marine environment. It is a vast land-, sea-, and ice-scape of glaciers, wetlands, coastal, marine, and freshwater environments. Ice is the predominant feature, providing ecological and cultural connectivity across the entire region. Polynyas play a crucial role in the development of ice edge ecosystems. Intense primary production by algae creates biological 'hotspots' that marine mammals and birds rely on as overwintering sites, migratory stop-overs and spring feeding areas. The incomparable abundance and productivity of the region has ensured the survival of Inuit culture and traditional subsistence living. Approximately 3600 people live in five adjacent communities (Pond Inlet, Arctic Bay, Resolute Bay, Grise Fiord and Clyde River). Primarily Inuit, they continue to use the travel routes and hunter gatherer traditions of their seasonal round.

Canada - Ivvavik / Vuntut / Herschel Island (Qikiqtaruk)

Together, Ivvavik National Park of Canada, Vuntut National Park of Canada, and Herschel Island (Qikiqtaruk) Territorial Park comprise 15 500 km2 of wilderness on the Yukon coastal plain, Richardson Mountains, a portion of the Old Crow Flats wetlands and an arctic island in the Beaufort Sea. Together, these parks comprise a land rich in wildlife, in variety of landscape and in vegetation. This area was not glaciated, and forms part of the Beringia corridor as evidenced in its rich assemblage of archeological and palaeontological deposits. Major rivers flow through the coastal plain, cutting spectacular canyons on their way to the Beaufort Sea. Part of the area, the Old Crow Flats, is a Ramsar site internationally recognized for breeding and migratory water howl. Three species of bear are found in parts of the area, along with a host of other wildlife, including Dall sheep and moose. The area supports close to 10 percent of the world’s caribou population, with the Porcupine Herd numbering close to 123 000 animals. A portion of the calving grounds for the herd is located in Ivvavik National Park of Canada. This is the land of the Inuvialuit and Vuntut Gwitchin, who have hunted, fished and traded in the region for thousands of years. The cultural landscape’s rich and complex human history is expressed through archaeological evidence and oral history. A key area to the peopling of North America, it illustrates successive occupations over thousands of years of adaptation to evolving climatic episodes. During preparation of nomination documentation, careful consideration will be given to final proposed boundaries to include all of parts of nearby protected areas, for example Fishing Branch Ni’iinlii’njik Territorial Park (7 000 km2), which is located south of Vuntut National Park of Canada.

Canada - Yukon Ice Patches

The Yukon Ice Patches is a serial property of internationally significant archaeological sites, located in the traditional territory of Carcross/Tagish First Nation, in southern Yukon Territory, Canada. Throughout the millennia, woodland caribou have congregated on snow and ice during summer months, making them vital resource areas for Indigenous hunters. Hunting weapons that missed their marks became incorporated into the snow and ice. Fragile, organic objects, seldom seen at archaeological sites, are recovered annually by small teams of archaeologists and First Nation researchers. Perishable elements such as wood, sinew, feathers, adhesives and ochre, allow new insights into material culture and technological change through time and provide new understandings of the accomplishments of northern Indigenous Peoples. First discovered in 1997 due to global warming, the Yukon Ice Patches have revealed unprecedented collections of ancient and remarkably well preserved hunting tools. More than 100 artifacts have been recovered from the Yukon Ice Patch sites, with the oldest dating back more than 7500 years.

Canada - Wanuskewin

Wanuskewin is located 2.5 kilometers north of the City of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. Situated on Opimihaw Creek, a tributary of the South Saskatchewan River, Wanuskewin features topography that is unusual for the Great Plains of North America. A deep and wide valley cuts through the otherwise flat prairie, offering sheltered terraces and coulee depressions alongside a source of fresh water. Within this small radius are nineteen Pre-Contact archaeological sites that offer a complete record of cultural development on the Northern Plains, spanning six millennia. Spectacular natural beauty complements the rich cultural heritage and historic record of human settlement at this property. Wanuskewin, the Nēhiyawēwin (Cree) word roughly translated as sanctuary, is considered a sacred site and gathering place, and continues to be relevant for education, ceremonies, peaceful co-existence and reconciliation for all nations.

Canada - Stein Valley

The Stein Valley is an intact, well-documented associative cultural landscape of great significance to the Nlaka’pamux. This protected wilderness area contains spectacular scenery and outstanding cultural and spiritual values. Transitioning from the dry interior to the wetter Coastal Mountains, the valley encompasses diverse ecological zones, including open pine forests, cedar groves, alpine tundra, and glaciers. This varied environment sustains many species of plants and animals important to the Nlaka’pamux, including medicinal plants, mushrooms, cedars, trout and deer. The Stein Valley continues to be an important place for hunting, fishing, gathering, and spiritual pursuits, and ancient trails are used and maintained throughout the valley. Many culturally significant places are present, including named places, spiritual and sacred sites, traditional use areas, groves of culturally modified cedars, archaeological sites, a rare arborglyph, and pictograph sites, including one of the largest and most significant panels in the province of British Columbia. The many tangible and intangible attributes of the Stein Valley cultural landscape attest to the ongoing traditional and spiritual significance of this valley for the Nlaka’pamux.

Canada - Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound Glass Sponge Reefs Marine Protected Area

In 1987, four major glass sponge reefs were discovered by the Geological Survey of Canada. These Hexactinellid (glass) sponge reefs are located between Haida Gwaii and the mainland of British Columbia in the Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound. There are four distinct sponge reefs comprising this serial site: the Northern Reef, two Central Reefs, and the Southern Reef. These sponge reef complexes are considered to be the largest living example of glass sponge reefs that were abundant in the Jurassic Period. The reefs are made up of large colonies of glass sponges and are estimated to be 9,000 years old.

The existence and formation of the reefs requires a combination of unique geological conditions combined with the occurrence of the reef-forming species of Hexactinellid sponges. The four reef complexes in the Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound discontinuously cover an area of about 1,000 km2, and are located in glacial troughs between 140 m and 240 m deep. The reef complexes are several kilometers wide, and up to 25 m tall. The sponge reefs provide refuge, habitat, and nursery grounds for aquatic species, including commercially important rockfish, other finfish and shellfish species. The species supported by the reefs are also of significant cultural importance to North and Central Coast First Nations.

Canada - Qajartalik

Qajartalik is a unique Arctic rock site that includes countless petroglyphs made from a single motif, that of the face, which is found engraved in shapes and sizes varied on steatite rocks. This singular graphic manifestation reflects the spiritual and magico-religious world of the Dorset, who inhabited the shores of Nunavik from 2,200 - 1,000 years before today (AA) and disappeared before the arrival of the Thule-Inuit (to 800 years before today). This site corresponds to a granitic crevice where a large vein of steatite was used as support for petroglyphs by the Dorset. At various points on its surface, this same vein of soapstone contains traces of extraction which confirm that it also served as a quarry during the Paleoeskimo (Dorset), Neo-Eskimo (Thule-Inuit) and recent Inuit periods for the acquisition of material. first necessary for the manufacture, among others, cooking pots and oil lamps. The site is divided into five sectors, four of which correspond to blocks of steatite with petroglyphs and some extractions while a fifth sector aligned with the ensemble forms a built-in rock shelter. The dorset petroglyphs, with more than 180 stylized faces sometimes displaying zoomorphic elements, make up a convincing example of the Dorset creative genius, whose meaning probably relates to the worldview and the shamanic complex. This set is a unique testimony and offers a new perspective on a missing cultural tradition, that of the Dorset. The large number of representations of faces with varied shapes engraved on large expanses of steatite offers an unusual and striking sight to those who visit the site.