NWT Protected Areas Strategy

"The land takes care of us, we take care of the land."

The NWT Protected Areas Strategy (PAS) was created in 1999 as a planning framework to help Northerners protect special natural and cultural places, and ecologically representative places in the Northwest Territories (NWT). PAS partners include federal, territorial and Aboriginal governments, communities, regional organizations, environmental non-governmental organizations and industry.

Comprised of 42 different ecoregions  , the NWT is a diverse land containing pristine lakes, free-running rivers, magnificent mountains, boreal forest along with expanses of tundra. Recognizing that cultural and ecological values in the NWT are under pressure from industrial development, PAS partners use existing laws to establish protected areas . These areas limit the amount and type of human activity on important land and water in order to protect its key values. The PAS promotes a balanced approach to land use based on the best available traditional and scientific knowledge.

The PAS outlines an eight-step process   that communities can use to move identified areas towards permanent protection. PAS partners work together to help identify these areas of interest , evaluate cultural, ecological and non-renewable resources, and ultimately to designate important areas as protected. The process has been designed to be flexible in order to accommodate different interests across the NWT.

The PAS is directed by the PAS Steering Committee    . The PAS Secretariat plays a coordinating role and provides financial, technical and administrative support to communities and regional organizations wishing to engage in the PAS process.

In 2004, the PAS developed the Mackenzie Valley Five-year Action Plan  . This plan outlines the steps needed to identify and evaluate a network of protected areas in order to balance conservation with development in the Mackenzie Valley . The federal government, through Indian and Northern Affairs Canada and Environment Canada, committed $9 million to fund the Mackenzie Valley Five-year Action Plan.

For more information or a list of PAS sites:

• Visit www.nwtpas.ca. 
• Phone the Protected Areas Advisor at
  (867) 669-2594.
• Email nwt_pas@gov.nt.ca.