Nia Tero - 2021 Annual Report - Report - Page 24
REGIONS
BOREAL
In 2021, the world became increasingly aware of the
planetary importance of both the Boreal forest, and
the Indigenous peoples who have safeguarded that
forest since time immemorial.
Because of this region’s critical role,
Nia Tero works in solidarity with and in
support of the Boreal’s Indigenous
guardians. Our close Indigenous partner organization in Canada is the Indigenous Leadership Initiative (ILI). We
also support the Sahtu Dene First
Nations guardianship of their lands.
Over 100 nations, including Canada,
made a collective commitment to halt
deforestation by 2030 at this year’s
COP26 conference in Glasgow. This
pledge will impact Boreal forests, as
they are a critical key to our planet’s
health—these forests hold even more
carbon than tropical forests, and potentially include a quarter of the world’s
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| REGIONS - BOREAL
soil-stored carbon. Our supported
Indigenous partners continue to make
the case that Indigenous knowledge
regarding care of the Boreal is crucial
to keeping that carbon safely in place.
In August 2021, the Canadian federal
government—again thanks in part to
the advocacy of our Indigenous partners—announced $340 million of new
funding over five years towards support
of Indigenous guardianship. ILI leader
Valerie Courtois noted:
“This is the largest federal investment
in Indigenous-led stewardship to date,
and we welcome the Government of
Canada’s commitment to partnering
with Indigenous Nations on
