Welcome to the IPCA Knowledge Basket, a digital space created to honour, celebrate, and catalyze Indigenous-led conservation pathways in Canada, including Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs).

The IPCA Knowledge Basket holds stories, videos, songs, government reports and policies, academic articles, resources, and artwork available to all who seek to support Indigenous-led conservation.

Because land and language are inextricably linked, Indigenous-led conservation can help support the revitalization of Indigenous languages.

As you enter the IPCA Knowledge Basket we invite you to listen to greetings shared by Indigenous language speakers. Click to hear a greeting from the speakers below.

These audio messages were gifted to the IPCA Knowledge Basket . Please do not copy or use the recordings for other purposes without explicit consent.

If you are Indigenous and speak your language, we hope that you will contribute a greeting or thank you message. We hope to reflect the diversity of Indigenous languages spoken on what is now known as Canada.

The basket represents the strength and beauty we can create by weaving multiple knowledge systems together.

The IPCA Knowledge Basket provides opportunities to harvest, collect, and contribute resources to help you on your learning journey. When we share with one another, we rise together!

graphic of a plant budding from the ground

Our Origin Story

Learn more about the IPCA Knowledge Basket and how it was created.

Design de Plume Logo

Jennifer Taback, President and Partner from Design De Plume, shared that the creative team had a great opportunity to sit with many people involved in this work.

“We heard stories, ideas, and thoughts that helped to give us ideas about common threads we could work with. The lands, people, animals and cultures are hugely diverse and we knew that to represent the project. Elder Albert Marshall told us that “Nature has rights, humans have responsibilities” and we made sure to reflect that by balancing natural elements marked by human influence.”

Listen to Anishinaabe Elder Marilyn Capreol, a member of Shawanaga First Nation, describe the significance of the big dipper constellation design.

Listen to Natowaawawahkaki – Holy Walking Woman (Paulette Fox) describe the design of the IPCA Knowledge Basket and the significance of the big dipper from a Blackfoot perspective.

See What’s New

Below is a growing collection of stories about Indigenous-led conservation, including stories from Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs).

These stories feature Indigenous voices speaking about Indigenous-led conservation initiatives in their territories. Sometimes, the stories are curated or documented by organizations that Indigenous governments have partnered with.

The stories inform, inspire and celebrate.

Great Bear Sea Marine Protected Area Network

This video introduces the Great Bear Sea Marine Protected Area (MPA) network, a groundbreaking initiative in Indigenous co-governance, is being led by 15 First Nations in collaboration with the government of Canada and the province of British Columbia.

Salmon Parks: An Indigenous-led movement to restore British Columbia’s wild salmon

This film reveals an inseparable interconnectedness between wild salmon and ancient forests while aiming to help secure the establishment of Salmon Parks in Mowachaht, Muchalaht, and Nuchatlaht First Nations' traditional territory, respecting Nuu-chah-nulth law while securing recognition from federal and provincial governments.

  • The logo for the abajignmuen Schulich School of Law with black lettering and two crescent circles back to back, one black and one yellow.

Abajignmuen

This website is dedicated to highlighting the work of students, faculty, and staff […]

  • Three young people stand in a sweet grass field. One is holding up a handful of sweet grass.

Fort Folly First Nation: An IPCA Summer

 This short documentary tells the story of Amlamgog (Fort Folly) First Nation’s Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area (IPCA). The story features the voices and perspectives of youth from the community who were hired for IPCA-related monitoring over the summer of 2022.

Salween Peace Park: Indigenous Conservation Governance in Southeast Asia

At 5,485 square kilometers, Salween Peace Park is one of the largest and most complex Indigenous protected areas in the world. Nestled between the Thai and Burmese borders, the internationally acclaimed Park emerged through an Indigenous-led vision for peace amidst more than 70 years of conflict.

  • Paul Palliser wearing polar bear skin snowpants while on a hunt outside of Inukjuak, Nunavik

Nanuk Knowledge and Dialogue Project

This project brings together Inuit leaders and knowledge holders, co-management representatives and interdisciplinary researchers to advance polar bear conservation and Inuit cultural continuity. This work is focused on the Eastern Arctic region of Canada

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