Thaidene Nene (Canada)

Photo credit: Pat Kane courtesy of Nature United

The Canadian federal government, along with the Government of the Northwest Territories and the Łutsël K’é Dene First Nation, formally designated the 5.7 million acre Thaidene Nene National Park Reserve and Territorial Protected Area in September 2019 and added the 770,000 acre Thaidene Nene WIldlife Conservation Area in March 2021. Thanks to a partnership with The Nature Conservancy and its Canadian affiliate Nature United, this designation now stands as the largest single area ever permanently protected with the help of Hansjörg Wyss and the Wyss Foundation’s philanthropy.

Thaidene Nene is a landscape that was once at risk, experiencing threats from uranium and diamond mining, dam building, power lines, and road construction. Now forever intact, the Thaidene Nene National Park Reserve and Territorial Protected Area boasts immense ecological and cultural significance: it is a key source of subsistence and holds deep spiritual value to the Łutsël K’é Dene; it is a massive unroaded area, teaming with wildlife that provides core habitat for grizzly bears, wolves, and barren-ground caribou; the southern two-thirds of the area is part of Canada’s Boreal forest, a critically important global carbon sink, while the northern third is tundra and serves as calving grounds for caribou. 

The Wyss Foundation’s support of Thaidene Nene dates back to 2015 when the Foundation first approved a grant to The Nature Conservancy to help establish an Indigenous co-management fund for the park. These resources—totaling $7,500,000 CAD—along with matching funds from other private philanthropy and the Canadian federal government through its recently established Nature Fund, provides a permanent source of funding that guarantee the Łutsël K’é Dene have the long-term capacity to co-manage their traditional homeland alongside Parks Canada and the Government of the Northwest Territories. Through co-management, the Łutsël K’é Dene have an opportunity to practice traditional use of the land—and employ young members of the First Nation—in the management of the area.

The Łutsël K’é Dene First Nation and Government of the Northwest Territories hired a year-round team of Indigenous Guardians to patrol and steward the protected area, engage with visitors, and maintain community traditions associated with the land. As a model for Indigenous-led conservation, the Thaidene Nene vision continues to succeed and to inspire other communities to protect the lands that sustain them, all thanks to the leadership of the Łutsël K’é Dene First Nation, the Government of the Northwest Territories, and Nature United.