Canada Launches One Of The Largest Indigenous-led Conservation Projects Globally With A Three Hundred And Seventy-five Million Dollar Investment In Nwt: Our Land For The Future, Securing Long-term Stewardship Of Land And Water Resources

Tuesday, July 22, 2025

The Honourable Julie Dabrusin, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, and Danny Yakeleya, Chair of nan Our Land for nan Future Trust, announced coming nan charismatic signing of a landmark assistance statement to found NWT: Our Land for nan Future – 1 of nan largest Indigenous-led conservation efforts worldwide. Made imaginable by a important \$375-million finance – \$300 cardinal from nan Government of Canada and \$75 cardinal from philanthropic partners – this historical inaugural will alteration nan people of wellness attraction for Canadians. The task intends to thief facilitate Indigenous-led stewardship and conservation successful nan NWT’s pristine ecosystems, including its immense boreal forests and tundra. And additionally, it is going to supply hundreds of productive, culturally enriching jobs for nan communities wherever they will beryllium sited.

NWT: Our Land for nan Future intends to conserve and negociate up to 380,000 quadrate kilometers of onshore and inland water, accounting for astir 30% of nan Northwest Territories. This expansive region covers much than 2% of Canada’s full onshore area, safeguarding recently designated terrestrial and freshwater zones. The inaugural spans an area astir 7 times nan size of Nova Scotia, highlighting its profound biology and taste significance.

Several cardinal activities and initiatives will beryllium supported by this funding:

• Indigenous Guardians: A halfway constituent of nan initiative, nan programme will supply resources to support nan operations, recruitment, and profession improvement of Indigenous Guardians. These Guardians will show nan wellness of nan land, protect taste sites, and guarantee nan sustainability of section type and ecosystems. This inaugural will fortify nan capacity of Indigenous communities to protect their accepted lands while empowering early generations pinch nan skills and resources needed for biology stewardship.
  
• Protected Areas and IPCAs: The inaugural will facilitate nan constitution and guidance of caller and existing Protected Areas, Conserved Areas, and Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs). These spaces will beryllium basal successful preserving nan ecological integrity of nan NWT, offering protection to captious wildlife habitats and culturally important areas. The creation of IPCAs will besides springiness Indigenous communities nonstop governance complete their accepted territories, ensuring that conservation is aligned pinch taste values.
  
• Climate Action: A cardinal attraction of this inaugural is addressing nan effect of ambiance change. The backing will support a scope of activities, including research, effect assessments, and ambiance adjustment strategies. These efforts will attraction connected knowing really nan changing ambiance is affecting nan NWT’s ecosystems and exploring ways to mitigate these impacts, ensuring that nan region remains resilient successful nan look of biology challenges.
  
• Climate Action: A cardinal attraction of this inaugural is addressing nan effect of ambiance change. The backing will support a scope of activities, including research, effect assessments, and ambiance adjustment strategies. These efforts will attraction connected knowing really nan changing ambiance is affecting nan NWT’s ecosystems and exploring ways to mitigate these impacts, ensuring that nan region remains resilient successful nan look of biology challenges.

This transformative business includes 21 Indigenous governments and organizations, nan Government of Canada, nan Government of nan Northwest Territories, and backstage donors. The corporate efforts of these stakeholders will pave nan measurement for long-term, Indigenous-led stewardship of nan land, benefiting some nan group of nan Northwest Territories and each Canadians.

The motorboat of NWT: Our Land for nan Future marks a important milestone successful ambiance action and conservation. This initiative, 1 of nan world’s largest Indigenous-led onshore conservation efforts, will foster sustainable development, create hundreds of meaningful jobs, and thief protect nan NWT’s immense and unsocial ecosystems. It is simply a testament to nan powerfulness of Indigenous activity successful biology protection and taste preservation. By focusing connected locally driven, community-based conservation practices, nan inaugural ensures that economical maturation and biology sustainability spell manus successful hand.

Along nan way, NWT: Our Land for nan Future will beryllium starring nan measurement successful demonstrating really region-specific culture-dependent approaches to onshore stewardship tin activity champion for some nan situation and nan group who unrecorded connected it. With this initiative, we are creating a exemplary of large-scale conservation that emphasizes ecological protection, ambiance resilience and economical opportunity, truthful that nan Northwest Territories continues to beryllium a vibrant, sustainable spot for generations to come.