A documentary on climate change will include a piece about Wood Buffalo.
Climate and environmental activist Greta Thunberg met with regional First Nations leaders over the weekend.
Joining her was a crew from BBC News who are shooting a film around the environment and Thunberg’s travels across North America.
Director of Government and Industry Relations with the Mikisew Cree First Nation Melody Lepine tells Mix News this was a fantastic opportunity to highlight changes happening across the region.
“I shared some of the stories that I’ve been hearing about the impacts of climate change in terms of water loss and basically changes in wildlife.”
Recent reports suggest Wood Buffalo National Park and multiple species of animal are being threatened. It hasn’t been all bad news as the endangered whooping crane has seen a slight increase in their numbers.
The MCFN also took the time to chat about the future of the region and fossil fuels with the 16-year-old.
Lepine believes they were successful in sharing the message that the oilsands can’t be shutdown immediately.
“If we are to move towards a plan of fossil fuels, it can’t happen overnight. I basically stressed to her the importance that we can’t just stop development and the issue of climate change is not about trying to have an economic meltdown or take people’s jobs away.”
Overall, Lepine believes Thunberg was quite impressed with Wood Buffalo as the Boreal Forest reminded her of her home country of Sweden.