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The Deninu Kųę́ First Nation and Fort Resolution Métis Government have announced terms of reference for a proposed new protected area.
In a Thursday news release, the Indigenous governments said signing the document is “a huge step forward” in the development of the Slave/Taltson Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area.
The terms will guide a committee’s work on an integrated plan for the Slave River delta and Taltson watershed.
“This committee is something that our great-grandparents always wanted us to do, to work together,” Chief Louis Balsillie of the Deninu Kųę́ First Nation said in a statement.
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“We are finally making this happen.”
The committee will rely on input from community members, land users, Elders and youth. Its work will include selecting a study area, identifying where and how research will take place, protecting significant cultural sites, and identifying conservation-driven economic opportunities.
The aim of the proposed Indigenous protected and conserved area is to “protect all living things, the land, water and environment to promote the social, cultural and economic well-being” of members of the Indigenous communities.
The governments said the area of their traditional territory is an important habitat for species like ducks, fish, beaver, moose and muskrat.
Existing Indigenous protected areas in the NWT include Thaidene Nëné, Edéhzhíe in the Dehcho, and Ts’udé Nilįné Tuyeta west of Fort Good Hope.
