Pew and Partners Celebrate Unprecedented Indigenous-Led Initiative to Protect Northwest Territories

WASHINGTON—Indigenous Nations from the Northwest Territories (NWT) of Canada celebrated today the signing of a historic agreement that will provide sustained resources for stewarding their lands and waters throughout the territory. The agreement, initially funded through an investment of CAD$375 million (approximately USD$270 million) in public and private financing, was signed in Behchokǫ̀, a Tłı̨chǫ First Nations community, by 22 Indigenous governments and organizations, the government of Canada, the government of the Northwest Territories, The Pew Charitable Trusts, and private Canadian donors.

The design of the initiative, officially known as NWT: Our Land for the Future, was led over a three-year period by Indigenous governments and organizations, working in collaboration with other partners. The agreement secures commitments for long-term conservation, stewardship, and community economic development goals identified by Indigenous partners in the territory and will add or enhance protections for up to an estimated 38 million hectares (380,000 square kilometres/146,700 square miles) of lands and waters—an area larger than Japan. The initiative will also support investments in community priorities—such as the Indigenous Guardians programs that contribute to local jobs, stewardship, climate research, and emergency response in a region that is warming faster than the global average and suffered devastating wildfires in 2023.

The initiative will protect a vast area of intact forests, rugged mountain chains, and wetlands, lakes, and rivers, resulting in a significant contribution to Canada’s pledge to protect 30% of its lands and waters by 2030. Dene, Métis, and other Indigenous peoples have stewarded these richly biodiverse ecosystems for generations and are setting an example for how to continue doing so in a rapidly changing world, protecting the region’s ecological and cultural resources for the future. In addition to its ambitious size, the initiative is an unprecedented partnership among the Indigenous governments and communities that steward the lands and waters in the Northwest Territories.

The government of Canada is initially contributing CAD$300 million to the initiative, out of a CAD$800 million commitment to Indigenous-led initiatives that the government announced during the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity in December 2022. Private donors will match the government on a 1-to-4 basis, contributing CAD$75 million over a 10-year period. The agreement indicates pathways for Canada to increase its investment by 2030, which donors have pledged to match with additional funding up to CAD$25 million at the 1-4 ratio. The agreement commits all partners to helping secure ongoing funding to sustain the project’s outcomes beyond 2035.

Canadian donors to the initiative include the Metcalf Foundation, The McLean Foundation, The Sitka Foundation, and Waltons Trust. They are joined by international donors Bezos Earth Fund, Ducks Unlimited, Inc., The Pew Charitable Trusts, The Wyss Foundation, and ZOMA LAB. The initiative uses a model called “project finance for permanence,” or PFP, which aligns policy and funding commitments to deliver large-scale, sustained investments in conservation and community economic development. This initiative is part of, and received support from, Enduring Earth—a collaboration among Pew, The Nature Conservancy, the World Wildlife Fund, and ZOMA LAB that seeks to advance PFPs around the world and enable nations to accelerate conservation that benefits local communities and achieves biodiversity, climate, and sustainable development goals.

The Indigenous Leadership Initiative convened the partners and facilitated the process around the co-development of NWT: Our Land for the Future—which is among the world’s largest PFPs by area and one of the largest Indigenous-led conservation initiatives in the world.

Tom Dillon, senior vice president of environment and crosscutting initiatives at The Pew Charitable Trusts, said:

“Indigenous peoples lead the world in stewarding lands and waters for future generations. This agreement secures the commitments and resources necessary for Indigenous governments throughout the Northwest Territories to achieve the ambitions they have set for themselves.

“Pew has been proud to partner with Indigenous communities on conservation for decades, and we are honored to play a role—with Indigenous leaders, and alongside the many Canadian and international donors and the government of Canada who have committed long-term funding for their efforts—in sustaining progress of this scale in such a special place.”

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