Akami−Uapishkᵘ−KakKasuak−Mealy Mountains National Park Reserve is a national park reserve located in the Labrador region of Newfoundland and Labrador. It was created in 2015 and covers an area of about 10,700 square kilometres (4,131 sq mi). The park includes the Mealy Mountains and protects large areas of boreal forest, tundra, and more than 50 kilometres of shoreline along the Labrador Sea and Lake Melville. It is the largest national park in eastern Canada and the largest protected area in all of eastern North America. The park is home to many types of wildlife, fish, and migratory birds, including the threatened Mealy Mountains woodland caribou herd and healthy populations of wild Atlantic salmon, which are declining in other areas. Other animals found in the park include wolf packs, black bears, martens, and two species of fox. Agreements with Indigenous peoples in the area, including the Innu, Inuit, and NunatuKavut, allow them to share responsibilities in managing the park and continue their rights within the protected area.
Background
Parks Canada, the organization in charge of the national park system, created a plan to protect 39 different natural areas across Canada. Since the 1970s, the Innu people opposed Parks Canada’s work in the region. However, in 2001, after completing a plan for a land agreement, the Innu Nation invited Parks Canada to study whether a new park should be created in Labrador. This park would represent the east coast boreal forest. A steering committee was formed, and they held meetings near Lake Melville. Some residents expressed concerns about traditional uses of the land by Labradorians, such as using personal cabins, having picnic fires, cutting wood for personal use, gathering herbs, picking berries, fishing, hunting, trapping, and snaring small animals.
In May 2008, the committee decided that creating a park was possible. Because land claims with the Innu people were not fully resolved, the area was first designated as a National Park Reserve. A National Park Reserve is a place set aside to become a national park once land claims are settled. Until then, it is managed like a national park under the National Parks Act.
The park was announced on February 5, 2010, by then Minister of the Environment Jim Prentice in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Labrador. At the same time, the government of Newfoundland and Labrador announced plans to create a Provincial Waterway Park near Mealy Mountains, which would protect the Eagle River watershed. Together, the two parks would cover about 13,000 square kilometers. This park is special because it allows traditional Aboriginal activities, such as hunting, trapping, fishing, and cutting wood for personal use, which are not allowed in most other parks. However, activities like mining or building on the land are not permitted. Larry Innes of The Canadian Boreal Initiative, who was part of the steering committee, said, “It’s a change in policy that fits the needs of the area. The biggest achievement is creating the largest protected area in Eastern North America while respecting local traditions.”
Alex MacDonald of Nature Canada, a conservation group, said they had worked to establish the park. He explained, “Protecting such a large area will help preserve many types of habitats, including rivers, aquatic ecosystems, tundra, and boreal forests.”
In 2015, the federal government confirmed its support for the park reserve, naming it “Akami−Uapishkᵘ−KakKasuak−Mealy Mountains” as Canada’s ninth National Park Reserve. “Akami−Uapishkᵘ” is the Innu name for the area, meaning “White Mountain across,” while “KakKasuak” is the Labrador Inuit word for “mountain.” The National Park Reserve became Canada’s 46th national park on July 31, 2015, after a federal/provincial agreement was signed. The land was officially transferred to the Canadian federal government by the province of Newfoundland and Labrador on July 10, 2017.