Government of Canada supports Indigenous led conservation efforts

OTTAWA, ON, June 23, 2020 /CNW/ - Collaboration with Indigenous communities from coast to coast to coast is key to understanding, learning and putting to action how best to protect our environment.

In recognition of Indigenous History Month, the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans, and the Canadian Coast Guard, the Honourable Bernadette Jordan, reminds us of the hard the work being implemented under the Indigenous Habitat Participation Program. This $50 million, five-year initiative (2019-2023) provides Indigenous organizations with funding to support collaboration, planning, conservation, protection, monitoring and data collection as it relates to fish and fish habitat.

Last year, the program supported 12 new projects totaling more than $1.6 million, including for example:

• the Indian Associations Coordinating Committee of Ontario Incorporated to exchange information with Ontario First Nations about the modernized Fisheries Act authorizations and Great Lakes Sea Lamprey Control;
• the Tsleil-Waututh First Nation to conduct fish habitat surveys and fish habitat mapping in Tsleil-Waututh traditional territory; and
• the Dene Nation to organize community meetings on Indigenous knowledge that will also support the modernization of the Fisheries Act.

The Indigenous Habitat Protection Program has seen great success leading to a second call for proposals for the program, which was launched on June 8, 2020.

Quotes

"Indigenous knowledge is critical to the management of Canada's fisheries and fish habitat, and our environment overall. The work that First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities are doing under the Indigenous Habitat Participation Program gives our government invaluable guidance and advice on our conservation and restoration work. We will continue to listen to our Indigenous partners on how best to protect our precious ecosystems, not just because it's the right thing to do, but because it is what's best for our environment."

The Honourable Bernadette Jordan, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans, and the Canadian Coast Guard

Quick Facts

• The Indigenous Habitat Participation Program will provide up to $40 million in contributions and up to $10 million in grants over five years. Submissions for grants are accepted year-round, whereas contributions are allocated following annual calls for proposal.
• The contribution component of the program supports engagement, capacity building and collaborative activities.
• The grants component of the program supports consultation on authorizations under the Fisheries Act.

Associated Links

• Indigenous Habitat Participation Program

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Indigenous Habitat Participation Program
Contribution Funding for 2019-2020

Recipient	Province/Territory	Approved Funding Amount	Description of Work
Inuvialuit Regional Corporation and Joint Secretariat	Northwest Territories	$150,000	Providing monitoring training, and monitoring of the area around the high-profile Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Highway. The monitoring program for this area is already in place, the IHPP funding expand the work.
Dene Nation	Northwest Territories	$400,000	Five community meetings on Indigenous knowledge, plus a workshop in Hay River to provide input to the IK Policy Framework to support implementation of Indigenous knowledge provisions of the amended Fisheries Act, and similar provisions in Bill C-69.
Qikiqtaaluk Corporation	Nunavut	$72,053	Identification of research needs and priorities of four Qikiqtani communities to support baseline data collection related to research vessel. Additional work to include the input of another nine  Qikiqtani communities anticipated to occur in the subsequent year.
Leq'aimel First Nation	British Columbia	$60,000	Development of a Nation-specific consultation protocol to support the government-to-government relationship with the Fish and Fish Habitat Protection Program in relation to project decisions, in Burrard Inlet.
BC First Nations Fisheries Council	British Columbia	$100,000	Support for engagement on aquatic species at risk activities.
BC First Nations Fisheries Council	British Columbia	$80,000	Support for coordination of Indigenous knowledge workshops to Inform the implementation of the Indigenous knowledge provisions of the amended Fisheries Act by the Fish and Fish Habitat Protection Program.
Tsleil-Waututh First Nation	British Columbia	$100,000	Fish habitat surveys and fish habitat mapping in Tsleil-Waututh traditional territory.
Matawa First Nations Management	Ontario	$139,997	Two areas:  1) Building community capacity in fish and fish habitat and fisheries; 2) Establishing a comprehensive fish habitat database, centred on Indigenous knowledge.
Indian Associations Coordinating Committee of Ontario Inc.  (Chiefs of Ontario)	Ontario	$205,895	Information exchange with Ontario First Nations on Fisheries Act authorizations & Great Lakes Sea Lamprey Control
First Nations of Quebec and Labrador Sustainable Development Institute (FNQLSDI)	Quebec	$150,000	Workshop to develop the skills of First Nations in Quebec related to the conservation and protection of fish and fish habitat
Wolastoqey Nation, New Brunswick	New Brunswick	$100,000	Pilot a co-management initiative during a two-year period to support the day-to-day work of the collaboration, to build and strengthen the collaboration and a co-management model approach. Goal is to advance collaboration with the Wolastoqey Nation around various fish and fish habitat activities on the Saint John River related to restoration, fish passage, learning and capacity building.
Assembly of First Nations	Across Canada	$130,000	Regional workshops to provide updates on Bill C-68, as well as to support increased awareness of its content and details and other Fisheries Act initiatives.

SOURCE Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) Canada

For further information: Jane Deeks, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans, and the Canadian Coast Guard, 343-550-9594, [email protected]; Media Relations, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, 613-990-7537, [email protected]

Related Links

http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca