Province of Nova Scotia Fulfills Joggins Financial Commitment

April 10, 2007

Joggins, N.S. - The Province of Nova Scotia has fulfilled its financial commitment to develop the Joggins Fossil Cliffs as a world-class tourism and heritage site.

Attorney General and Cumberland South MLA Murray Scott, acting on behalf of the province, presented a significant cheque to Rhonda Kelly, Executive Director of the Cumberland Regional Economic Development Association (CREDA) during a brief ceremony at the construction site in Joggins on Tuesday, April 10. This funding represents the remainder of the total provincial financial contribution of $2.9-million for the capital build and start-up costs of an interpretive and research centre to showcase what is considered the world’s richest and most significant Coal Age fossil site.

More than $9-million has been committed to plan and build the new Joggins Fossil Cliffs Centre and improve beach access and safety at the cliffs. Key funding partners include the federal government, through ACOA, which has committed more than $4.8-million, and the provincial government, nearly $3-million through the department of Tourism, Culture and Heritage. The Municipality of the County of Cumberland has also committed more than $900,000.
Construction of the 13,000 square foot new fossil centre is on schedule for an early October opening. The centre will house a gift shop, a laboratory and exhibition space devoted to the significance of the cliffs.

Area Municipal Councilor and Joggins Fossil Institute Board member John Reid said he was excited to see the new centre being constructed at the end of Main Street in Joggins. “This is something the community has been waiting for and dreaming about for a long time,” he said.

Joggins Fossil Institute Board Chair and CREDA Vice Chair Gerald Read added that “ the opening of a world-class interpretive and research centre along with the possible designation of the Joggins Fossil Cliffs as a World Heritage Site will help revitalize Joggins and spur economic growth throughout the area.”

Meanwhile, the Joggins Fossil Institute has received confirmation that the UNESCO World Heritage Centre has examined the Nomination Dossier for Joggins and has determined that it is complete.

The Dossier, which is the application for inscription on the list of World Natural Heritage Sites, will now be evaluated by the appropriate advisory bodies of UNESCO.

The evaluation process, which will include a site visit, could take up to 18 months to complete. Once a site has been nominated and evaluated, it is up to the intergovernmental World Heritage Committee to make the final decision on its inscription. The committee meets annually to decide which sites will be inscribed on the World Heritage List.

It is anticipated that Joggins will be designated a World Heritage Site by the fall of 2008.

 

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Media Contact:

Jenna Boon, Senior Project Manager
Joggins Fossil Cliffs
902-667-3638

Rhonda Kelly, Executive Director
Cumberland Regional Economic Development Association
902-667-3638