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For more on the Mackenzie River Valley, visit WWF-Canada.
Arctic Bulletin articles
© Leslie Leong
A Dene woman prepares wild duck on the bank on the Mackenzie River. Northwest Territories, Canada.
The Mackenzie River is a critical homeland for indigenous peoples and for wildlife. The valley contains one of the world's last great free-running river systems. It is the longest river in Canada and the Delta the largest in Canada with the second largest wetland area in the country.
The river transports over half of the freshwater flowing through the north of Canada and carries the most sediment in the circumpolar north to the Arctic Ocean. This discharge of freshwater and energy in the ocean plays a significant role in regulating the circulation of the world's oceans and climate systems.The Mackenzie River Valley is rich in wildlife. A pristine sub-arctic region, the Mackenzie Valley is home to huge populations of caribou as well as black bears, grizzly bears, moose and wolves. It is also a major North American migratory corridor for waterfowl breeding along the arctic coast.
Oil and gas
The Mackenzie Valley holds 1.5 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, and 9 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of proven gas reserves. The Mackenzie Delta and Canadian Beaufort Seas are thought to hold significantly greater reserves, with an estimated 5.8 billion barrels of oil and 65 tcf of gas.
Plans to build a 1,000 km long pipeline through the Mackenzie Valley are proceeding apace, despite the lack of protected areas in the ecotypes that the pipeline will impact.
