Pimachiowin Aki World Heritage Site

In 2006, the governments of Manitoba, Ontario, Canada and Anishinaabe First Nations formed the Pimachiowin Aki Corporation, a not-for-profit charitable organization, to nominate Pimachiowin Aki for inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List.  Capacity was established within the Lands Branch to lead the initiative on behalf of the Government of Manitoba.

Pimachiowin Aki (Pim–MATCH–cho–win Ahh–KAY) means “The Land That Gives life” in Ojibwe.  Pimachiowin Aki was initiated in 2002 by Anishinaabe First Nations in Manitoba and Ontario as a way to conserve and raise awareness of the boreal shield ecozone and the cultural tradition of Ji-ganawendamang Gidakiiminaan, “Keeping the Land”.

Pimachiowin Aki was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List on July 1, 2018, based on both cultural and natural criteria, and in accordance with the World Heritage concept of an Indigenous cultural landscape.  The World Heritage Site includes two adjoining wilderness parks (Atikaki and Woodland Caribou) and ancestral lands of four First Nations in Manitoba - Bloodvein, Little Grand Rapids, Pauingassi, and Poplar River.  The Site covers 29,040 square kilometres or 2.9 million hectares and is the largest conserved area of the North American boreal shield.  Pimachiowin Aki is the first World Heritage Site in Manitoba, the first mixed (cultural and natural) site in Canada, and is rare in the world - less than 1% of all World Heritage sites are in the mixed site - cultural landscape category.

Manitoba Parks Branch continues to work with the Pimachiowin Aki Corporation in support of the governance, operations and programming of the World Heritage Site, including monitoring and managing the Site and reporting on management plan implementation, communications, grant-making, business planning, destination marketing, and the campaign to raise awareness of the site and donations to the Pimachiowin Aki World Heritage Fund.