Undersea mountain declared protected

An ecologically rich underwater volcanic mountain west of the Queen Charlotte Islands was designated a marine protected area yesterday by the federal government.

"This extraordinary ecosystem must be protected," said Gary Lunn, minister of natural resources, in making the announcement in downtown Vancouver.

Officials of the Haida Nation and World Wildlife Fund Canada, who led the fight to preserve Bowie Seamount, 180 kilometres west of the Queen Charlottes, attended the announcement.

Vince Collison of the Haida Nation Council called it a "monumental event" because of the co-operation between governments, environmentalists and stakeholders.

"For us, the more we're able to preserve our precious territories and the more that we can do that with our new partners of the province and federal governments, the better off we'll all be," said Collison.

"We're willing to work with whoever wants to work with us to preserve the beauty and the great history that exists on Haida Gwaii [Queen Charlotte Islands] and outside of Haida Gwaii."

Bowie Seamount or Sgaan Kinghlas, at over 6,100 square kilometres, is Canada's seventh marine protected area.

"This is a significant conservation success for the Pacific coast and cause for celebration this Earth Day," said Chris Elliott of the World Wildlife Fund.

"This seamount has been called an island of biodiversity. It is home to an astounding richness of marine life," he said.

"To the Haida people, this was long recognized as a precious place."

Most seamount summits are located hundreds of metres below sea level, but Bowie Seamount rises to within 24 metres of the surface.

Lunn called the area "a rare and ecologically rich, oceanic oasis."

"It's easy for us to lose sight of things that we can't see that are below the surface of the ocean," said Lunn. "But it's equally important that we protect these areas as we do our national parks."