Feds, Inuit agree on vast new Arctic marine protected area
Posted Dec 4, 2018 03:01:36 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Ottawa and Inuit groups say they’ve reached a deal on benefits for the people who live near vast new marine protected area in Canada’s Arctic.
The agreement means the waters north of Baffin Island — more than 100,000 square kilometres of some of the richest and most productive seas in the North — are one step closer to becoming Canada’s largest protected area.
Formerly called Lancaster Sound, it will now be called Tallurutiup Imanga National Marine Conservation Area.
The agreement includes jobs in the five communities around the area as well as promises for mobile food processors to support hunters and increase the supply of country food.
When finalized, the area will move Canada closer to its goal of placing 10 per cent of its oceans under some form of protection.
A separate report from a U.S. think tank released today praises the pace of conservation in Canada.
The Canadian Press
