Eeyou Istchee Protected Areas Network (Canada)

River in southern James Bay, QC - Photo by Christie Macdonald

In December 2020, the Cree Nation Government and the Province of Quebec announced the protection of more than twenty percent of the Eeyou Istchee James Bay Territory, primarily located in Northern Quebec, including lands on the eastern shore of James Bay and south-eastern Hudson Bay. The agreement included twenty-three new areas reserved for protected area designation purposes, allowing the establishment of more than 9.6 million acres of new protected areas, adding to the existing 14.8 million acres of protected areas in Cree Territory.

This development was made possible through the engagement of land users, tallymen, and community leadership, as well as the dedicated staff of the Cree Nation Government over the last ten years. The interim protection of more than twenty percent of the Eeyou Istchee James Bay Territory marks a significant step forward for the Grand Alliance, a nation-to-nation partnership between the Cree Nation Government and the Province of Quebec, under which biodiversity, conservation, and protection of the Eeyou Istchee James Bay Territory have been prioritized. The Cree Nation Government benefited from technical and financial support from the Nature Conservancy of Canada through two grants from the Wyss Foundation in 2019 and 2020, which support the steps to finalize these protections under the laws of the Cree Nation Government and those of the Province of Quebec. 

The late 2020 announcement was the beginning of a multi-step process ultimately granting legally protected status to the targeted territories. In May 2021, the proposed protected areas were legally gazetted by the Government of Quebec, providing for their protection until final management plans are developed and implemented by the Cree Nation Government, local communities, and the Province.