Little Forks is a citizen-led proposal for a new national urban park in Winnipeg, MB. As envisioned, the park would be located at the confluence of the Red, Seine and Assiniboine Rivers, and would comprise 430 hectares of land and water areas, 10 kilometres of waterways, and most remaining natural lands inventoried in Winnipeg’s urban centre. The proposal also argues that the national urban park program should serve to heal urban land, and that the protection of established natural areas should be complemented by the restoration of ecologically strategic but disturbed sites; in this instance, 23 ha of legacy industrial lands.
To support this proposal, a year-long research initiative coordinated the partnering of community organizations throughout the planning process. It developed the park proposal and established benefits related to four contribution areas: protection and conservation of nature; access to nature, recreational, cultural, and historical features; reconciliation with Indigenous communities; and support of municipal urban development initiatives.
