NiaTero - 2020 Annual Report - Flipbook - Page 25
BOREAL
In September 2019, Canada’s Nature Fund approved
initial funding of US$1.9 million for three proposals
submitted by Sahtu First Nation for the establishment
of Indigenous Protected Areas: Ts’udé Niljné Tuyeta
Indigenous Protected Area
(Ramparts), Ross River Indigenous
Protected Area, and Edéhzhíe Dehcho
Protected Area & National Wildlife
Area. With secure co-financing and
committed Sahtu leadership, Nia
Tero is providing multi-year support
for expanding Sahtu guardianship
as a foundation for Dene selfdetermination and nationhood.
ILI is Nia Tero’s main partner in
the Boreal. ILI and the Dene have
made good progress in the Sahtu
region in 2020 in spite of the global pandemic. With Nia
Tero’s support, the Sahtu’s Deline Indigenous Protected
and Conserved Areas (IPCA) proposal is now substantially
complete, and the Deline Gotine Government is in
negotiation with the Northwest Territories government on
the terms of establishment. The Sahtu Dene’s Nio Ni Pene
proposal is developing more slowly but continues
NIA TERO - THRIVING PEOPLES. THRIVING PLACES.
to advance. Most significantly, this progress highlights
how the government of the Northwest Territories is open
to the establishment of Indigenous Protected Areas; and
federally, Indigenous-led conservation is advancing at a
spectacular rate.
In early 2020, Nia Tero
partnered on video production
with James Cameron, Harrison
Ford, Peter Seligmann, and Nainoa
Thompson for ILI’s Land Needs
Guardians campaign. The success
of this campaign lends momentum to
work with the Government of Canada,
ensuring Indigenous guardianship
is recognized and supported within
post-2020 Biodiversity, Climate,
and Sustainable Development
frameworks. In September, the Prime Minister specifically
highlighted Indigenous-led conservation as the way
forward for Canada to meet its international targets under
the Convention on Biological Diversity. Canada is also
considering allocating long-term funding to the Keepers of
the Land Program and the Indigenous Protected Areas.
REGIONS - BOREAL
| 25
