Christmas Came Early to the Canadian Arctic Ocean!

On December 4, 2018, an agreement was signed by P.J. Akeeagok of the Qikiqtani Inuit Association,  and the Canadian Federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna, on what will be the largest protected area in Canada – Tallurutiup Imanga National Marine Conservation Area. This National Marine Conservation Area (NMCA) should become official March 2019, with an area spanning over 109,000 squared kilometres.

Since the 1960s, the Inuit peoples of the area have been trying to protect these waters, as it is an incredibly productive habitat, home to narwhals, bowheads, and beluga whales, walruses, polar bears, and millions of seabirds. This agreement goes beyond protecting marine life, but to benefit the people of the area, including jobs for the Inuit as guardians throughout the five Nunavut communities, and food facilities and the first small-craft harbour all to support local hunters and increase food security to the region.

Northern waters of Canada are highly productive, and facing new vulnerabilities with climate change and melting ice, including oil and gas exploration, mining, and increase of marine traffic. It’s imperative to protect these waters now. The Federal Government has also announced their consideration to protected the region off the Northern Coast of Ellesmere Island. The Canadian Government, Nunavut, and Inuit Indigenous Groups will begin these discussions of this new protected area called High Arctic Basin or Tuvaijuittuq — Inuktitut for “the ice never melts.”