Tch Government secures $2M from Canada to conserve traditional lands in N.W.T.

The government of Canada announced Friday it will inject $2 million into the Canada Nature Fund to help conserve Indigenous land in the Northwest Territories.

The deal was recently signed between the federal and the Tch governments. The nature fund was given $1.3 billion in the 2018 federal budget.

The lands to be conserved include more than 22,000 square kilometres between Great Slave Lake and Great Bear Lake, according to a news release.

Once complete, the protected spaces Gowhad Yek'e t'ii k'e(Traditional Use Zone) and Tch Nawoo K Dt'ahot'(Cultural Heritage Zone) will be about double the size of Cape Breton.

The protected lands are part of the Tch Wenek'e or Land Use Plan, which was developed and ratified in 2013 and recommends that a plan review and update be completed every five years. The plan supports the management of approximately 39,000 square kilometres of Tch lands, according to a statement from the Tch Government.

Developed through 'eyes of our elders'

The funds are also meant to protect the land for "its inherent worth and ecological integrity," which is hoped will help preserve Tch "history, stories, legends and their relationship with the land."

"Our land, our culture and our way of life are what our people have always relied on and will continue to do so," reads a statement from Tch Grand Chief George Mackenzie.

"The Tch Wenek'e was developed through the eyes of our elders to protect and promote our way life and the transfer of knowledge to future generations. These types of partnerships will only continue to strengthen our relationship and build on reconciliation."

The protected lands include the da Trail, an ancestral trailwhich follows waterways and watershed areas.

The trail is a top site for traditional hunting, trapping, fishing, and collecting plants used for medicine. It also holds a central place in Tch history and culture.

"The community is setting out to protect a substantial area of land with deep cultural ties," reads a statement from Minister of Environment and Climate Change Jonathan Wilkinson.

Helping conserve biodiversity

Part of the funds will also help the Tch Government contribute "significantly" to the federal biodiversity conservation targets through Indigenous-led conservation efforts, and support research into climate change.

It's also expected to help the establishment of a proposed territorial protected area,Dng Wek'hod, according to theTch Government.

The release said the investment will helpprotect habitat for wildlife, including 16 species at risk like the boreal caribou, and preserve known migration corridors for barren-ground caribou.

The federal government said its working with partners to double the amount of protected nature in Canada's lands and oceans by the end of 2020, and that it wants to conserve 25 per cent of Canada's lands and 25 per cent of its oceans by 2025.

N.W.T. MP Michael McLeod said the new funding for lands in the territory "represents reconciliation in action."

"The $2 million investment will help to protect the culture and traditional identity of the Tch communities and will play a big role in helping to reach Canada's nature protection goals," he said in a release.