March 2001

Government of Canada
Environment Canada
Canadian Wildlife Service

Nirjutiqavvik National Wildlife Area

Coburg Island and the surrounding waters were proclaimed as a National Wildlife Area (NWA) on August 30, 1995. The NWA, located off of the southeastern tip of Ellesmere Island, comprises one of the most important seabird nesting areas in the Canadian Arctic. Up to 385,000 thick-billed murres, black-legged kittiwakes, northern fulmars, and black guillemots nest on the precipitous cliffs on the south coast of Coburg Island, and on Princess Charlotte Monument, a small islet near the Coburg Island colony. The close proximity of Coburg Island to year-round openings in the sea ice (polynyas) in Baffin Bay and Lady Ann Strait provides abundant food for the birds and attractive habitat for polar bear, ringed and bearded seals, walrus, and migrating narwhal and beluga.

An ad-hoc management committee, composed of Inuit representatives from Grise Fiord, Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS), and the Government of the NWT - Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, had determined goals and objectives for the NWA management plan. Further work on the management plan was halted, pending commencement of the Inuit Impact and Benefit Agreement (IIBA). In late 1997, the Qikiqtani Inuit Association (QIA) received Designated Inuit Organization status for Nirjutiqavvik. After preliminary discussions with CWS, QIA decided to delay the start of negotiations until the completion of the Igaliqtuuq IIBA. Nirjutiqavvik's IIBA will be undertaken as part of the upcoming Umbrella IIBA negotiations for all of CWS's conservation areas in Nunavut.

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