Qat’Muk Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area (Canada)

Qat’Muk in the Central Purcell Mountains of British Columbia | Photo credit: Tom Besser

The Wyss Foundation partnered with the Ktunaxa Nation Council and Nature Conservancy of Canada to support permanent protection of Qat’Muk – also known as the Jumbo Valley – in the Central Purcell Mountains of British Columbia. The landscape was the venue for a decades-long fight between a resort developer, the Ktunaxa Nation, and the local community opposed to a European style ski resort in such a sacred and ecologically important region.

Thanks to a collaboration between the Ktunaxa Nation Council, the Government of Canada, the Province of British Columbia, Nature Conservancy of Canada, and private funders, development rights in the Jumbo Valley were fully and permanently extinguished in October 2019 and as a result, the Jumbo Glacier Resort will never be built.

After thirty years of resisting development of these traditional lands, the Ktunaxa Nation Council is continuing work with the Province of British Columbia, the Government of Canada, and others to ensure effective stewardship and conservation of the central Purcell Mountains, encompassing Qat’muk. These governments are working towards the creation of the Qat’Muk Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area (IPCA) in the Central Purcell Mountains in southeastern British Columbia. An IPCA is distinguished by Indigenous creation and founded on the Indigenous relationship to land. It will serve to protect both cultural values and biological diversity in part of the Central Purcell Mountains for all time.

The Ktunaxa Nation Council envisions the IPCA area spanning approximately 170,000 acres immediately north of the Purcell Wilderness Conservancy and encompassing the Jumbo Valley and parts of adjacent watersheds. Dialogue between the parties is ongoing to refine the boundaries and stewardship objectives and consult with other stakeholders.

This initiative was made possible by a $13,000,000 contribution from the Government of Canada through the Canada Nature Fund, and an additional $3,500,000 from private sources including the Wyss Foundation, Wilburforce Foundation, Patagonia, the Columbia Basin Trust, and Donner Canadian Foundation. Phase I support from the Wyss Foundation assisted with the buyout of development rights in the Jumbo Valley. A second phase of funding will support effective long-term management of the Qat’Muk IPCA, once established.