In September 2022, the Kativik Regional Government (KRG) launched the Nunavik Protected Areas public information and consultation campaign—a major initiative to conserve the region’s biodiversity and cultural heritage—in partnership with Makivvik, the Cree Nation Government (for the community of Whapmagootsui), the Naskapi Nation of Kawawachikamach, and the Ministère de l’Environnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques (MELCC). This project is also carried out with the financial support of Environment and Climate Change Canada.
The first consultations for Nunavik’s protected areas took place in 2011–2012. An important theme that emerged from these consultations was the shared vision of the relationship between the people and the land—a relationship of interdependence, adaptation, and resilience. As custodians of the past, present, and future use of the territory, the communities and Nations of Nunavik have a strong sense of responsibility to maintain the integrity of the territory and to pass on the knowledge and skills associated with it. To date, because of these initial consultations, nearly 29,800 square kilometres of Nunavik’s territory has been registered as a protected area in Quebec.
In 2020, eight Réserves de territoire aux fins d’aires protégées (RTFAPs) (Territorial reserves for protected area purposes) and expansions of two existing RTFAPs were officially added to the Registre des aires protégées au Québec (Quebec’s Protected Areas Registry) to meet the 20 per cent protection target for Nunavik. Before these areas are granted permanent and official protection status, the KRG, in partnership with the Advisory Committee to the Nunavik Protected Areas Working Group, is launching broad public consultations on the process that led to the current definition of the protected areas network in Nunavik, its relevance, and its representativeness.
Dates of the next consultations:
Learn more about the process at www.nunavikprotectedareas.com and follow us on our Facebook page, @Nunavik.Protected.Areas, for more details.
