In the far northern reaches of Canada, an agreement has been made to give stewardship over an area twice the size of Florida to a coalition of First Nations.

For the purposes of conservation, $375 million will help build sustainable, resilient local economies not based on extraction that will see 150,000 square miles of land and fresh water protected in the long term.

Penned in Yellowknife, the largest settlement in the Northwest Territories, it’s called the NWT: Our Land for the Future Trust, and is the largest agreement of its kind in North America.

“This document we signed today has been a long time in the making. It reflects years of collaboration and commitment from indigenous leaders across the North,” said Chief Ernest Betsina of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation, one of 21 that are included in the agreement.

“It reflects our shared understanding that indigenous people have always been the stewards of the land. And it’s time for that responsibility to be recognized and supported.”

The land area of the Northwest Territories is roughly equal to that of France, Portugal and Spain combined, although its overall area is even larger because of its vast lakes. Over 12,000 members of various First Nations’ people lived there as of 2021, making up over 40% of the territory’s population.

The Canadian government wrote that the agreement will help protect new and existing conserved areas in the territory including some of the world’s most intact boreal and tundra ecosystems.

LAND BACK STORIES:

Over time, it aims to conserve and steward up to 150,000 square miles of lands and inland waters in the Northwest Territories, and will be a significant contribution to Canada’s goal of conserving 30% of lands and waters by 2030, a goal which many nations are pursuing following an agreement at the UN made four years ago.

Several nations are significantly pursuing this goal, with Australia well on their way to achieving it by the 2030 deadline.

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