As Canada prepares to establish what will become the largest protected area in the country — Tallurutiup Imanga — the Inuit communities that live nearby are aiming for full Inuit management of the region, which covers the eastern entrance to the Northwest Passage.“What we’re envisioning is for Inuit to fully manage and control the conservation area,” said Sandra Inutiq, the Qikiqtani Inuit Association’s chief negotiator for the Tallurutiup Imanga Inuit impact and benefit agreement.“We’re the ones living there, we’re the ones that have the knowledge of the land and the waters and we’re the ones that will continue to be there,” said Inutiq, who was in Toronto last week for the Canada’s Oceans: Towards 2020 conference at the Royal Ontario Museum.In a statement, Parks Canada said it “is committed to working collaboratively with Inuit to determine how best to manage the proposed Tallurutiup Imanga/Lancaster Sound national marine conservation area.”“Inuit will participate in the management and protection of the national marine conservation area and Inuit Qauijimajatuqangit (traditional knowledge) will inform future decision making,” said spokesperson Audrey Champagne.The almost 110,000 square-km conservation area rich in biodiversity is considered the “ecological engine” of the Arctic. The area is home to up to 75 per cent of the world’s narwhal population, 20 per cent of Canadian belugas, the largest subpopulation of polar bears in Canada and some of the largest colonies of seabirds in the Arctic. It’s also home to about 3,600 Inuit. For QIA the conservation area is about bringing economic opportunities to the people who have lived in the region for millennia and launched the effort to protect it more than 50 years ago.“This is about communities, we want communities to grow and to thrive,” said Stephen Williamson Bathory, QIA’s dir ...
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