COMPLETED: Edéhzhíe Dehcho Protected Area and National Wildlife Area (Canada)

Photo credit: Ducks Unlimited

Photo credit: Ducks Unlimited

Beginning in 2018, the Wyss Foundation made a three year, $750,000 commitment to help the Dehcho First Nation in Canada’s Northwest Territories establish an Indigenous guardians program to conduct on-the-ground co-management of the proposed 3.5 million acre Edéhzhíe National Wildlife Area. Edéhzhíe, which the Dehcho First Nation identified for protection through an Indigenous land use planning process, includes a unique wetland ecosystem that provides essential habitat for migratory waterfowl, moose, bison, wolverine, and caribou. The Indigenous guardians program that has been created through this grant enables a year-round team of staff to monitor, patrol, and care for the land, and also ensure that the Dehcho people benefit economically from the management of this area. Of the three-year commitment, $275,000 was immediately granted and will be administered by Ducks Unlimited, as a partner in the International Boreal Conservation Campaign. An additional $250,000 was granted in early 2021 to support continued on-the-ground stewardship for Edehzhie. A final $225,000 will be granted in 2022 to continue support for this work. 

Thanks in part to the success of Dehcho Guardians program, Edéhzhíe continues to attract attention as a model for Indigenous-led conservation in action. The Government of the Northwest Territories permanently withdrew the Edéhzhíe area from mineral claims on June 2, 2020, clearing the way for final designation of the National Wildlife Area. On May 11, 2022, the Edéhzhíe National Wildlife Area was formally established in the Northwest Territories, Canada. Establishing Edéhzhíe as a National Wildlife Area fulfills a commitment Canada made to the Dehcho First Nations in 2018 and is a positive step towards reconciliation.Edéhzhíe National Wildlife Area also contributes to Canada’s ambitious commitment to protect 25 percent of its territory by 2025, on the path to 30 percent by 2030.

The Dehcho First Nations and Environment and Climate Change Canada will continue to manage Edéhzhíe together to protect its lands and wildlife for the purposes of conservation, research, and interpretation.

Beutler Ink